The New Sarah Jane Adventures
by The Last True Hero
Summary: The old team has fallen apart. A new team emerges. Bannerman Road will never be the same again!
1. It All Begins Again

_**Disclaimer:**__ I do not own the Sarah Jane Adventures, Doctor Who, or any other owned item utilised in this story. This is done purely for amusement, and not profit. This applies to all content in the story. __(After this I'll start putting random stuff up.)_

_**A/N:**__ Alright, this is my first Whoverse story. It's actually a sequel to a "series" of Doctor Who I've yet to write (that'll be interesting, or a continuity nightmare). I actually intended to write the DW first, but meh._

_Next thing: I'm a stickler for canon, so I'll be making references to the greater canon of the universe, retconing/explaining stuff to make my interpretation of the current universe/timeline clearer to the reader._

_Next Next Thing: This will essentially be a series of "episodes"._

_Final Thing: Takes place after Series 4, and Clyde has moved away to take an Art scholarship._

* * *

_**THE NEW SARAH JANE ADVENTURES**_

_**Episode I**_

_It All Begins Again_

_Once the sky was full of stars and mystery and wonder. Now Luke is gone, Clyde is gone, and Sarah Jane is a shadow of the woman she used to be. What do I do? Do I hunt the aliens and adventures myself? Or do I let the old days fade away, a bed time story for my children?_

_What does the future hold? That future- that terrible future- that Eve showed me so long ago seems so close…I'm scared. I don't want to be alone._

_~ Journal Entry of Rani Chandra._

* * *

Under the cover of a star-speckled night, Rani Chandra crept towards the abandoned warehouse, ducking between lit lampposts and jumping out of sight whenever the low rumble of a car's engine trundled past. It was past midnight and she doubted it was a good idea for a lone girl to be wandering around this rather seedy area of London.

Yet here she was, investigating rumours of low wails from this specific warehouse, 42B. No one knew exactly what was causing it, some said it was just echoes, and some said "young hooligans, trying to start a fire".

There was a second rumour, however, that a group of said hooligans had tried to break into the warehouse on a dare and never returned.

And thus, here was Rani, about to try to follow their lead and force her way into the warehouse, alone, without help, without a fall-back plan. Once upon a time, Sarah Jane would've be at the helm, but now she was a shadow, an empty shell, lost in the days where Luke was socially inept and Clyde was the joker in the pack.

_No time for memories, Chandra!_ Rani scolded herself, returning quickly to the present.

Reaching somewhat uneasily into the small bag she had brought with her, Rani produced a small torch and tape recorder. Raising the recorder to her mouth, she quietly began to speak:

" This is Rani Chandra, journalist-" Her dictation halted suddenly when a loud _crack _resounded in the background, most likely from a car backfiring. Bringing her racing heart back to normal, she continued;

"-here to investigate strange rumours regarding Warehouse 42B, possibly extraterrestrial in nature. I wonder what it could be…Slitheen? Whatever it is, I'm going to find out."

With that, she pocketed the small sliver recorder and holding the small torch in a sweaty hand, crept forward towards the warehouse, ominously devoid of any illumination save the weak rays reaching from the far off lampposts and the moon.

Reaching its gargantuan main doors, she saw that they were bound by thick iron chains, held together by a lock. She wouldn't be getting in that way.

Set back, but still determined to find access to the warehouse, she began walking in a circuit, intent on finding an alternate entrance. As luck (or common sense on the designer's part) would have it, she found a normal door, obviously intended for use by various personnel. Approaching cautiously, she reached the door, and to her slight surprise, found it unlocked.

Entering the warehouse, she found it dark and silent. Thumbing her torch on, she shone the beam around the warehouse, the weak lance of light revealing little more than thick dust particles hanging in the air, and the objects closest to her.

The warehouse, formerly a storage site for meat products, was dusty and dank. Thick chains hung from the ceiling, creaking ever so slightly in the silence, a few boxes were strewn around the other-wise empty space, some covered by thick sheets of blue tarpaulin. A thick stench of blood and decayed meat-a remnant from its meat processing days- pervaded the air. The disturbing atmosphere was reinforced by the faded red stains scattered around on the floor and walls.

However, there didn't really seem to be any sign of any alien activity. Not quite willing to call it a day just yet however, she began rummaging for a light switch, hoping for some decent light to aid her search. After ten minutes of fruitless labour, she finally found the technician's booth, complete with a circuit breaker box for the lighting in the warehouse.

A small _thud_ in the distance made Rani spin around, the weak torch-light dancing around haphazardly. Shrugging it off, but not quite able to ignore the new feeling she was being watched, she returned her attention to the dust-covered circuit box. Prizing the transparent switch cover off, she saw the largest black one was denoted with a faded label that read "master". Flicking it with apprehension, she sighed with relief when the massive overhead lights clicked on, filling the warehouse with light.

Her eyes adjusted to the sudden change in ambiance, and she noted a large trap door on the other side of the warehouse, which unlike the rest of the gloomy place, was dust free.

_Bingo, _she thought triumphantly.

Turning the torch off and storing it in her pocket, she made her way triumphantly towards the trap door. Once close, she saw that it was made from a brown wood, and by the looks of it, very heavy. Her rough analysis proved true when she tried unsuccessfully to open it. Gritting her teeth, and squaring her shoulders, she forced her fingertips into the almost-gap where the door met floor, and with a grunt, slowly managed to prise it open.

To her exasperation, only darkness again was revealed to her. Once more, she retrieved the torch from her pocket and turned it on to reveal a ladder reaching down ten or so feet to a stone floor. Climbing down, she jumped the last two steps, landed and turned. A dark tunnel stretched ahead of her.

Ignoring the now-mounting unease that began to send chills down her spine, she slowly began to make her way through the seemingly endless tunnel. A minute passed, then five, then ten, then twenty…

_Good thing it's Saturday…_

Eventually however, a small pinprick of light appeared, slowly getting bigger until Rani found herself emerging to an underground cavern, with stalactites and stalagmites laden throughout, with a single dim lamp to provide illumination. Another dark tunnel branched off to her left. She suddenly realised that the raw meat smell from the warehouse had carried along to the cavern as well.

By her own estimations, she was somewhere near the Thames, the notion reinforced by the subtle drip-drop of what could have been water in the distance.

However, she was slightly disappointed to find it devoid of pretty much anything interesting.

Almost as if a higher power had heard her thoughts, a low hissing began to fill the air. Turning quickly, she realised it was coming from the second tunnel, and that it was getting louder …closer.

Looking around frantically, she decided that the only suitable hiding place was behind a rather large stalagmite off to the right of the entrance. Moving quickly, she just managed to thumb the torch off and take cover, just as three creatures emerged from the tunnel. Rani felt they wouldn't be out of place in a J.R.R Tolkien book.

The creatures were human-sized and hideous. Dark crinkled scaly flesh covered a taut muscle-bound body. Each one bore rusty metal helmets and scattered armour plating. Glowing orange orbs served as their eyes ( At least, that's what she _thought_ they were.), shining brightly through slits in the helmets in the dimly-lit cavern. Massive arms ended in hands with six fingers, reaching down just short of the aliens' knees.

The three aliens hissed and clicked, utter giberish to Rani. Carefully and quietly, she tried to remove her tape recorder from her pocket, intent on recording the creatures' conversation for later translation by Mr Smith. To her abject horror, the recorder slipped from her grasp and clattered on the floor.

Instantly, the three aliens stopped "talking" and turned towards the source of noise -and her. The biggest's - probably the leader- mouth opened to reveal a gaping wet maw. The aliens advanced. Rani shrank back, all hope of escaping now gone, dead as she was sure to be.

Her back hit the cavern wall, and the lead alien its arm, about to strike her down, without hesitation, without mercy. Rani closed her eyes, waiting for the inevitable.

_I'm going to die._

_I'm so sorry…_

The death blow never came; instead, a hand -human, warm- enclosed hers. Her eyes snapped open and turned to the hand's owner. A boy, near her in age and height, with a mess of brown hair. His brown eyes,-alight with boyish mischief- met hers and his mouth opened to speak a single word:

"_Run."_

Before Rani could react she was being pulled through the tunnel the aliens had originally entered from, leaving them behind in the process, though their alien screams followed them, carried by the tunnels. Adrenaline substituted when her breath ran out and muscle ache became too much.

Soon enough, (although she had long since lost track of both the time and her surroundings), Rani and her apparent savoir somehow emerged from some sort of cellar onto a deserted and silent London street. The boy suddenly dropped her hand (now covered in perspiration), and turned back towards a set of ground-level doors she realised they had escaped the tunnel complex from.

Slamming the two heavy wooden doors closed , he pulled a small sliver cylinder from his pocket, pointed it at the doors and pressed a button. The tip glowed with blue light and a low buzzing filled the air.

_Some sort of Sonic Lipstick?_ Rani pondered.

The buzzing and light stopped, the boy nodded in satisfaction, pocketing the Sonic "Lipstick".

He then turned towards Rani, and she was able to take him in properly for the first time. The brown hair and eyes formed part of a fairly handsome face. A skinny frame was clad in a pair of dark jeans, a thin maroon hoodie, beneath a navy blue suit jacket. Finishing the somewhat bizarre combination was a pair of scruffy white trainers. Rani was vaguely reminded of someone, but for the life of her couldn't remember who.

His mouth opened in a quirky smile, and spoke:

"Good thing I was passing through, no?"

His voice was strange; it contradictionally sounded like it should be both from someone young and old; She also thought she could discern a slight Scottish accent. She got the impression he picked his words carefully.

"Well…yeah" She admitted. "Who are you?"

"I'm just a bit of a trouble shooter." He said, amused. "Wandering around, getting into all sorts of weird and wonderful misadventures."

Rani snorted. "You're just a kid."

"You'd be surprised…" Mystery man murmured thoughtfully; "So, what's _your _name?" he said, hastily diverting the subject.

"Rani. Rani Chandra."

The boy grinned, the mischief returning to his eyes. "Pleased to meet you, Rani-Rani Chandra." He began to wring his hands, in what she realised was a sign of -surprisingly- nervousness.

Rani, however, wanted answers, and wouldn't be distracted; "You never told me your name." she stated accusingly; "and don't say it's too dangerous." She cut him off as he began to open his mouth.

The boy seemed to deflate, and reluctantly muttered: "Mark Auld". Rani scanned his face for any sort of dishonesty, but found none.

Silence reigned between the two, which Mark eventually broke by saying: "Well…it's past my bedtime, so..toodles." And with a final mischievous wink, turned and began to leave.

"Oi! You can't just walk away!" Rani shouted after Mark. His only reaction was to raise his arm in a lazy farewell wave, before turning a corner and leaving her alone in the now deserted street.

_Okay…what just happened?_

* * *

The following Monday , Rani was at Park Vale, hunting in her locker for her Biology textbook, frustration evident. She hadn't had a chance to see Mr Smith or Sarah Jane, as her mother Gita had had a family reunion on Sunday which she had been forced to attend. The majority of which she didn't even know existed, let alone having met them before. That said, Rani couldn't exactly fault her mother for being pregnant, could she?

She couldn't go tonight either, as her father had roped her into helping out at the Parent's Evening later. How the school expected you to study for your A-Levels while constantly being expected to help out at Photo-Days, Parent's Evenings, Open Days, school plays, and whatever else, she didn't know. (and lacked the courage to ask her father, fearing the Headmaster in him to get overprotective of all things educational).

She found the book she was rummaging for in her locker, and closed the locker with a bit more force than intended.

"Hey, Rani, what's up?" One of her friends, Charlotte asked, having fought through the sea of students to find her before the bell rung for them to return to class.

"Oh, nothing much, yourself?"

"Same, weekend was boring…where were you? I never heard from you all weekend." Charlotte asked.

"I was…busy." Rani replied sheepishly. _Y'know how it is…hunting aliens, trying to save the world._

Charlotte, however, wouldn't accept her excuse. "Meeting a boy are we?" She said, interest in her tone.

_Well…actually… _"No! why do you always say that?" Rani asked exasperated, rolling her eyes.

"Well, what else could you be doing?"

Rani was saved the need to make further excuses when the bell rang, signalling them to fight through the crashing tides of the younger and smaller students to reach Biology.

A few minutes later, Rani and Charlotte were seated in class, listening to Mr. Andrews teach them about the structure of enzymes. Or rather, Charlotte was listening and Rani was musing about Mark and the creatures from Saturday.

Rani, boredly glanced out of the window, eyes scanning for something of interest.

_You've got to be kidding me._

Wandering around outside in the gloomy weather was Mark, eyes focused on some sort of device in his hands. He was rotating aimlessly on the spot, frowning. Then the device flashed once and he nodded, before heading in the direction of what she noted would be a set of emergency exit doors for the school.

_What could he be doing here?_

"Quick bit of revision: What is the protein structure type of an enzyme…" Andrews trailed off, eyes scanning the class for a victim; "Rani?".

Startled, Rani quickly tried to backtrack through the teacher's words, and ignore the gleeful and expectant stares from the rest of the class. What was he talking about? Enzymes. Protein. Structure…

"Globular?" she tried hesitantly. Andrews nodded in acceptance, but added; "Please try to pay attention in future, I don't teach for the good of my health."

* * *

Rani didn't even bother to go home, despite her tiring day -double English and Maths, bad news for any student- instead stood bored behind a raffle table, selling out tickets and help to the parents without their children present.

She didn't even have her iPod or mobile phone, and was beginning to feel the effects of an hour of standing on her legs. _The parents need the chairs more, _she thought ruefully. Glancing at her watch did do much either, only showing just how little time had passed- it had just gone five o'clock. The evening was to last until _seven._

_This is going to be hell._

The day got a lot more interesting, however, when she once again saw a now-familiar face in the crowd, Mark.

_Hello…_

Thinking quickly, and determined to escape the sheer boredom of the situation, Rani grabbed another helping student and gestured to the raffle table. "Man the fort, I..uh…gotta do something"

The boy blinked in confusion. "Um. Okay."

Rani smiled, before making a beeline after Mark through the crowd. Her quarry eluded her however, leading into one of the corridors not in use for the Parent's Evening, and as such was shrouded in relative darkness, save the slight light from the outside streaming through the windows.

She sighed when it became apparent that she had lost him; but her disappointment was short lived as a vaguely human-shaped mass blurred past her, nearly knocking her on her back before disappearing round the corner.

Rani stood blinking at the spot the blur had disappeared from, when the head of Mark peeked around the corner, confusion in his eyes , before disappearing again. Then, cautiously, he walked back into full view, looking more or less the same he had on Saturday-although the hoodie was now dark blue and the suit jacket a light brown.

Stopping a foot shy of Rani, he looked at her sheepishly, an awkward silence forming between them.

"So…" she said uncertainly. "How you been?"

"Good, good, and you?" Mark replied, embarrassed, if the way he was scuffing his shoes on the floor was any indication.

"Keeping busy." As Rani's faculties caught up with her, a sudden thought popped into her head:

"Um, why were you running?"

Mark's face took on a look of confusion. "What?"

"Running." Rani repeated; "You just came running round that corner like you were being chased by something. Why?"

Comprehension dawned on Mark's face: "Oohhhh. Yeah, well y'see…"

His explanation was cut short when the doors at the opposite end of the corridor were blasted violently off their hinges with a resounding crash, revealing one of the monstrous troll-like creatures from Saturday.

"That sums it up quite nicely, actually…" he commented dryly. "Time to move, I reckon."

Rani was already moving. "C'mon, we've got to keep it away from the others." She grabbed Mark's arm and pulled him away, and the two quickly began to run. The troll-thing roared and followed, crying for blood

The two raced through the corridors, away from the parent's evening. The troll followed them persistently, swift as a cheetah despite its ungainly physique. Its careless gait caused it to constantly smash into walls, leaving a trail of ripped down posters and concrete chips in it's wake.

Thinking quickly, Rani grabbed Mark again and pulled him to a stop outside a disused science classroom; "Quick, use your sonic thing; open the door." Mark accepted her command and without missing a beat extracted his sonic device -which she noted looked similar to the one the Doctor had used during Sarah Jane's wedding, so she guessed it was a "screwdriver"- and buzzed it at the door, unlocking it.

After entering Mark locked the door behind them and pocketed the screwdriver, Rani slumped against a leg of one of the remaining tables, the adrenaline having worn off.

Despite the situation, Rani couldn't help but smile. She had missed this. The fear, the excitement, the running from the arms of death. The world and adventure Sarah Jane had shown her, the stars and wonders of time and space.

Her reverie was brought harshly back to earth when Mark quipped: "So, got a plan or did you just want to be alone in a room with me?"

"Well, now that you mention it…not at all." Rani said grimacing, wisely choosing to ignore the last part. "I'm making this up as we go along; We need to barricade the door, stop that thing getting in." She decided authoritatively.

Mark seemed to agree with her assessment, and the two hastily began pushing tables and chairs against the door, in a bid to stop the creature from getting in. Just as they were stacking the last table, the creature arrived on the other side of the door. It growled softly, before beginning to ram the door in menacing rhythm, determined to smash down the door and reach its two unwilling victims.

_Bang…Bang…Bang…_

"Right…" Mark murmured thoughtfully, ignoring the noise; "we're in a science classroom, what's in the room?" he bounded over to the windows: "Too high up to jump, and wouldn't deal with him outside." He moved to one of the work stations: "GAS! We could use gas- fill the room and blow him up…"His face fell and turned to a frown. "but then _we'd_ be caught in the blast. Okay, forget gas."

_Bang…Bang…Bang…_

Rani watched in -despite the situation- amusement as he scanned the room for inspiration. "Right, what does big guy have: heightened strength , heightened sight, smell…" Rani giggled and cheekily asked: "So, got a plan or did you just want to be alone in a room with me?"

"I'm just making it up as we go along." Mark echoed cheerfully.

_BANG!_

"OI!" Mark yelled at the door in annoyance, the pile of furniture showing worrying degrees of fragility. "I am _trying to think, _thank you very much!" His eyes settled on the electronic tanoy speaker fixed to the wall.

"Noise, hearing…_fantastic!"_ He climbed onto the workstation below and began to use his screwdriver to prise the speaker from the wall. "Big old noise- he wont like that, haha!"

He jumped down and began to fiddle with the speaker's internal wiring: "Just got to give it a bit of an upgrade…"

Rani suddenly realised something. "Mark…"

"Yeah?"

"It's stopped."

Mark froze, and eyed the door warily.

"They don't just give up, they're like Jixen or a Predator: chases you till you're dead or it is."

"Predator s aren't real…" Rani pointed out.

He ignored her and returned his attention to the speaker, and Rani cautiously began to make her way towards the door. Peeking through a gap in the furniture barricade, she found no sign of the creature. She made her way over to Mark. "I think it's gone."

Rani frowned as felt something sprinkle onto her head. Looking up, she saw a stream of dust falling from the ceiling. Sudden realisation dawned on Rani, and she roughly shoved Mark away, before flinging herself backwards as the ceiling collapsed, and the monster came crashing down right where they had been standing, sending concrete, plaster and dust everywhere.

It turned towards her, and growled before stalking forward, arms raised. Rani scrambled backwards.

Suddenly, a high pitched shriek filled the air, piercing Rani's eardrums. The creature grabbed the sides of it's armoured head and howled, thrashing around before collapsing in an ungainly heap. Mark appeared from nowhere, speaker in one hand and sonic screwdriver in the other, which he pocketed to offer Rani a hand up.

"Is it dead?" she asked.

"Unconscious." Mark replied, unconcerned.

"How do you know?"

"'Cause the dead ones explode." He deadpanned.

Mark prodded the unconscious creature with his foot, just as a soft whirring began to fill the room. Blue light enclosed the creature before it disappeared from sight.

"Teleport retrieval protocol." Mark explained. "All repairable units are automatically transported away."

"Won't more come? Y'know, to investigate?" Rani queried.

"Nah, we're good for now."

"Good." said Rani. "'Cause I want some answers."

* * *

It was 17:32 and twenty-nine seconds, and Mark had finally found someone _interesting._

Planet Earth is home to just a few hairs short of seven billion human beings.

Seven billion brilliant, incredible, cruel and amazing humans.

Seven billion _boring _humans.

But now, he had found someone of interest. Someone who had seen the stars and life from other worlds -he knew she had without a doubt-and held them in awed regard, just like he did, just like his grandfather did.

The girl-her name was _Rani_- was now in the mass of bored students, stressed parents and annoyed teachers, making her excuses to pull away to talk to him. He would have stuck away, like he did before, but Rani was interesting, and something about her intrigued him; something he couldn't quite place a finger on.

So he would stay, and answer her questions -what he could, anyways, he didn't have all the answers, not yet.

He briefly wondered why the Sentinel had come here. Had it tracked her? He doubted it; their smell wasn't _that _good. He settled on simple coincidence. After all, stranger things had happened- and after what he had seen of time and Time and _twilight_, this was hardly a miracle.

Rani emerged from the crowd, looking pleased with herself. "Just had to tell Dad I wasn't feeling well." She informed him. "Surprised you never ran off again."

Despite himself, Mark smiled.

"You're interesting."

* * *

An hour or so later, the two found themselves sat in a small café nursing mugs of steaming tea- the café, Rani noted fondly, being the same one Clyde and herself had used as a "base of operations" when a pair of robots removed everyone from the planet to search for their heir, Gavin. She doubted Mark had known her sentimental value towards the place though.

_He made so many Adam and Eve jokes…_

Her reverie was broken when Mark spoke.

"So, where do you want to start?" He prompted.

Rani frowned. There were too many questions she wanted answered. Who was he? What were those things? In the end she settled for:

"How come you didn't run off again?"

Mark lowered the mug he had been about to drink from, and replied: "I dunno. You're interesting. You've done this sort of thing before."

Rani briefly wondered what he meant be "interesting", but decided to go along the more concerning line. "How do you know that?" Had he been spying on her? Or did he know someone she had ran into before?

"Well…three things." He set down his mug and leaned back in his chair.

"Number One: your clothes." Unconsciously Rani glanced down at her school uniform -black shirt and skirt; what was wrong with it?

"Fashionable, but more practical than anything else. Your shoes in particular." He paused. "You're wearing _trainers_. An attractive, probably popular girl like you would never deliberately wear those kind of things to school. Which means you wear them unconsciously or out of habit. Why would you do that?" He grinned. "Because you do a lot of _running._"

Almost instantly, Rani was reminded of _Sherlock._ And the observation and deduction did make sense, she supposed, although it was a fair leap of logic.

Mark reached into his coat pocket and produced -Rani realised with a start- the tape recorder she had dropped on Saturday. He held down the "play" button for a few seconds.

"_This is Rani Chandra, journalist-"_

"Number Two." He continued, setting the recorder on the tacky plastic table. "You came prepared. You didn't just go into that warehouse on a whim. You were looking for something more than just a rumour. You knew what you were doing."

He fell silent, deep in thought, as if debating within himself on how to continue.

"Number Three?" Rani prodded.

Slowly, he leaned across the table until his face was inches away from Rani's, and stared deep into her eyes. Rani was entranced, and found herself unable to pull away. His eyes were so _old…_

"Your eyes." He murmured softly. "They show your emotions. You weren't scared; not the way you should've been. You were scared of something you _recognised. _Something you had seen before. A normal person would have been terrified of something they had never encountered, but you weren't…you were brave…"

Seemingly coming back to his senses, he pulled back and scratched the back of his head awkwardly.

"So yeah. Aliens."

He hastily picked up his mug again and began to drink. suddenly incredibly interested in staring at the cheap fake flower on their table, obviously embarrassed at himself.

The two sat in thoughtful silence for a few minutes, before Rani decided to brave the unknown once again.

"So what were those aliens then?"

Mark seemed to grasp this like a lifeline, and quickly began to ramble. "They're called _Sentinels_. They're not a race per se, it's actually more of a scientific practice."

Rani frowned. "What do you mean?"

"'Sentinel' is the term used for an organism created from an amalgamation of extrapolated genetic material from multiple distinct species." He explained.

Rani was nonplussed. "Eh?"

Mark frowned, trying to think of a better way to explain.

"Y'know how farmers and stuff would splice genes from one plant into another, like modifying a potato plant to grow tomatoes as well?"

"Yes." Rani answered, beginning to understand where he was going.

"Well, more or less the same idea." Mark stated. "You take the desirable genetic traits of whatever organisms you want and mix 'em all together. And that's a Sentinel."

"Are they all like monsters?"

"Not really." Mark answered. "They're actually illegal under the Shadow Proclamation charter. Before being outlawed they were used as disposable slave labour for pretty much anything. Mining, construction, anything that had a high risk factor."

Rani nodded, before deciding to simply wing it and ask the question that had been plaguing her for best part of an hour. "Who are you, really?" She blurted.

Instead of looking offended as she had feared, Mark simply took on an air of patient amusement.

"Well…"He began. "basically, I found my long-lost grandfather who was an alien. And he took me around time and space in a little blue box-"

"The Doctor!" Rani gasped. It all made sense now. She knew that Mark had seemed familiar somehow. "He's your grandfather?"

"Well, technically not." Mark admitted. "Bit more complicated, we never did bother to find out the exact term, so we just stick with grandfather."

"Wouldn't that make you alien?" Rani asked.

Mark nodded. "I was born human but when I met him my latent Time Lord DNA was awakened. Two hearts, respiratory bypass system, the whole shebang."

"Why aren't you with him now?"

A dark look crossed Mark's face. "Bad stuff happened. We got separated. I had to wander the universe myself for a bit. Long story. And um, well, then we found each other again, but something happened with the TARDIS and I've been stranded here ever since."

Rani raised an eyebrow. "He's never came back?" She asked sympathetically.

"I don't think he _can_, to be honest." Mark mused thoughtfully.

"How long were you alone for?"

"Ohh, just short of a thousand years." Mark replied mildly.

"How old _are _you?" Rani cried disbelievingly.

"Again, complicated." Mark said grinning. "Lost count at about twenty-seven million."

"Million?"

"Yup, _looonnggg_ story. So these days I stick with a thousand and sixteen, makes the most sense for me." Mark finished with a crooked smile.

Rani was dumbfounded. "You're looking good for it." She commented lamely.

"Heh. Moisturiser." Mark frowned. "Hang on, how do you know the Doctor?"

"I know an old companion of his. And I've met him twice."

"What one? The companion, I mean, not the Doctor." Mark clarified.

"Sarah Jane Smith." Rani said, a sliver of pride in her tone.

"Ohh, I know her! Well, of her, anyways. He always had a soft spot for her." Mark trailed off. "Where's she now?

"She's…around." Rani said, carefully. "She's not who she used to be. Everything's just kinda caught up with her."

"Can she help us?" Mark asked hopefully.

"Probably not." _I wish she could…_

"Worth a shot." He nodded in dejection.

Suddenly, a thought popped into Rani's head, unbidden, and she chastised herself for not realising sooner. "Wait, you said the Sentinels were created; who's in charge of them?"

Mark grinned. "Clever girl, was wondering whether you'd catch on to that."

"Yeah, well." Rani said cheerfully. "I try."

Chuckling, Mark continued. "The big guy in charge is a scientist, calls himself the Krulius."

"You're kidding."

"Friend of yours?" Mark asked, once again amused.

"Ehh, not so much." Rani snorted. "First time was when he crashed on Earth and released a whole load of aliens into the internet. It was hell finding them all. Second time he teleported me to his ship and tried to get revenge on Sarah Jane."

"Fun."

"Not really." Rani muttered. The Krulius was a bitter enemy of Sarah Jane, and by extension, Rani herself.

"What does he want with Earth?" Rani queried. She doubted it was revenge on Sarah Jane, otherwise she wouldn't have run into them on simple chance.

"Like I said, the Krulius is a scientist, specifically a geneticist- he wants to create the perfect life form." Mark began to explain.

"Still doesn't explain what he wants with Earth though." Rani pointed out.

"Well." Mark said. "Humans are an incredibly…_virile_ race." He looked sheepish now. "Capable of interbreeding with most hominid species of similar size. Good physiological compatibility. Like how we use rats and bonobo chimps for vivisection due to similar responses."

Rani cocked an eyebrow, not particularly keen on where he was going with this. "You mean he's here for _test subjects?"_

"Well, yeah." Mark deadpanned. "Seven billion perfect lab rats, unable to fight back, largely unprotected by Galactic Law…"

Rani decided that now she had all the facts, it was time to draw up the battle plans .

"So." She began after a pregnant pause. "What're we going to do about it? Do you know where he is?"

Mark accepted her sudden determination without missing a beat. "Well, I know he's in orbit somehow. Not quite sure where, but I know how to track him."

"How's that, then?"

Mark reached over and gently tapped the tape recorder with his finger.

"The Sentinels are controlled via a broadcast transmitted to each individual Sentinel, far beyond the range of human hearing or accessing. However, the recorder would've still picked up the signal-"

"And we can track it to it's source?" Rani guessed, completing Mark's sentence.

"Precisely." Mark seemed slightly put out he hadn't been able to finish his explanation. "Slight problem though, tiny, insignificant…" He looked a mix of embarrassment and annoyance. "I don't actually have the technology to find him."

Rani sighed and rolled her eyes. _There's always something…_

"What would we need?"

"Well…" He began to tap his mug in rhythm, considering. "Advanced processor, audio-analysis systems, extremely powerful cryptography and encryption-decryption protocols…" He listed off.

"A supercomputer, basically." Rani stated. _Guess we're in luck then._

"Yeah, well beyond Earth tech. Cant really just pop into _PC World_ for one…" Mark grumbled.

"Well, Mister Auld." She reached over and plucked up the recorder, a broad smile on her face. "I believe I may have just the thing, now that you mention it."

* * *

For some reason or another, an old memory popped into her head as Rani and Mark stood outside Sarah Jane's house. An old memory, of far more happy and optimistic times.

_)*(*)*(_

"_So why do I have do this?" Luke asked, bemusedly holding up a video camera on Clyde's request, while Rani and Sarah Jane watched on in curious silence._

"_You'll see, my young padawan." Clyde answered cryptically. He turned towards the girls. "Sarah Jane, if you would?"_

_Sarah Jane rolled her eyes good-naturedly, but complied as Clyde cleared his throat in preparation for whatever he was about to do. Luke thumbed the camera on._

"_Three. Two. One. Action!"_

_Instantly Clyde began energetically moving towards the front door, looking intently at the camera._

"_Thirteen Bannerman Road is where Sarah Jane Smith lives, and it's home to things way beyond your imagination!" Clyde declared dramatically, while the others looked on in baffled confusion._

"_There's an extraterrestrial supercomputer in the wall, a genetically-engineered boy genius in the attic-" Clyde grinned at Luke. -"a schoolgirl investigator across the road-" He winked at Rani. "And a whole universe of adventure." He reached the front door and pointed downwards. "Right here on the doorstep!"_

_At this, his monologue was deemed over as he took an exaggerated bow towards the others, jaws hanging low in disbelief._

"_What in the world was that?" Sarah Jane demanded._

_His only response was laughter, which the others soon found themselves joining in, even though they didn't __**quite**__ understand why they were laughing._

_)*(*)*(_

Rani missed those days.

* * *

According to his own internal clock, it was now 18:42 and fifteen seconds. Mark and his new friend Rani were outside a large house, a good story or so taller than most of those on the street, built from bright red bricks in the old century style.

13 Bannerman Road, Ealing. Home of Sarah Jane Smith, according to Rani. And, he presumed, the supercomputer Rani had mentioned but refused to elaborate upon, saying only that he'd love it.

Across the road was Rani's house -Number 12- which she had said was the whole reason she had met Sarah Jane. Her father had taken a job as Headmaster of the local school and moved to Bannerman Road, during a strange time of disappearing children, which Rani had quickly gotten herself involved in, ultimately helping Sarah Jane to defeat the cause of the disappearances- The Pied Piper of Hamlin, an energy being from a far off cluster.

"You sure she'll be okay with this?" Mark asked.

"She's out at the moment, doing an article on a new shop in London." Rani answered, side-stepping the question deftly.

Mark let it slide, but filed it away for future reference. He guessed that Sarah Jane had really reached the end of her tether and given up on time and space completely. He felt saddened by that. There were too few of her mould about, too few to save the world from every threat -from above and within.

Torchwood was effectively dead in Britain, but Mark knew they were still operating in America. UNIT was just going too gung-ho and guns blazing for his liking. Most of the Doctor's old companions were still about, making differences though. There would always be someone around willing to save the world, but whether they were in a position to do so was another matter entirely.

Although there was no longer any massive alien invasions in Earth's history, there had once been, and would be in the future. And their echoes still remained for those directly involved…The 456 had ripped Torchwood apart, but while the rest of the world had forgotten, Torchwood remembered.

Those time-cracks had really done a number on the timeline, Mark decided. His time in _twilight_ had shown him all that was once and could be, and what had been undone and rewritten.

Mark was pulled back to the present from his musing on temporal theory when Rani began to walk towards the house, beckoning him to follow. Rani unlocked the door with a key taken from underneath a nearby plant-pot and the two entered.

Rani deigned to show him around proper -and Mark would've felt slightly uncomfortable gallivanting around the house if she had. Instead she lead him straight up the stairs, past two floors, stopping outside a wooden door which Mark guessed would lead to the attic.

Rani gestured towards said door. "After you."

Nervous, curious, Mark pushed the door open and entered the attic.

A thin layer of dust covered everything, and there was a general notion of disuse and abandonment about the room, but Mark could tell almost instantly that this place had once held a warm magic in it's walls, a sense of peace and wonder and safety.

Over on the far wall a construct of orange bricks stood- He guessed it was part of the chimney vent. On the other end, shelves and desks carried all sorts of junk, some alien, some mundane. A larger leather recliner sat in the middle of it all.

Mark liked this place.

"So." Rani said. "What do you think?"

"It's neat." Mark admitted. "Still don't see a supercomputer though."

In response, Rani simply strode past him to stand next to the chimney construct. Turning towards Mark, hands on hips, she spoke with a giggle: "Well, lets not disappoint then…"

Glancing once towards the brickwork, she called out to no one in particular:

"Mister Smith, I need you."

Almost instantly, a musical fanfare began to play from within the brickwork. The lower half split open and swung outwards on unseen hinges, spraying jets of pressurised air and sending pieces of paper fluttering about. The upper half slid upwards. Together they revealed a screen bearing a fluid multi-coloured model and a cobbled-together computer terminal, both of which extended outwards towards them.

"Hello, Rani." Mr Smith greeted. "How may I be of assistance?"

He knew he was staring, and he knew his jaw was hanging slack but he didn't care. They had a computer in the wall. That was awesome.

"It's in the _wall_…" Mark muttered, dumbfounded.

Rani laughed. "Like it then?" She asked in a teasing tone.

"It's…awesome." Mark laughed with her.

"I see you've brought a friend." Mr Smith said. The fluid model on the screen flickered for a second and if Mark had known better he would've said it was the Mr Smith equivalent of a frown. "A _non-human_ friend. Shall I put him in a containment vortex?"

"Um, no, that's fine." Rani said quickly. "He's a good alien."

"Like the _Iron Giant_. Or E.T. Or Paul. Yeah, Paul's better." Mark supplied jokingly. Rani didn't even bother to dignify his response with a frown or eye-roll and instead addressed Mr Smith again.

"The Krulius is back." Rani informed him. "We need you…" She pulled the tape recorder from her pocket . "To scan this. There should be a signal broadcast you can isolate and use to track down his ship." She placed it on a little tray that had been extended from the main terminal.

"Try around the frequency of two-thousand." Mark chipped in. "It'll be coded, so you'll have to decrypt it as well."

"Indeed." Mr Smith paused. "Commencing scan. Full analysis and decoding should be completed in approximately twenty minutes."

Mark nodded in satisfaction. Rani spoke: "Well, I'm just nipping across the road to change, be back in a couple mins."

"Okay." He acknowledged.

Rani smiled and left. Mark blew out a sigh and wondered how he was to entertain himself until her return. He busied himself for the next few minutes examining the various paraphernalia around. The alien junk was interesting enough, but Mark quickly found himself drawn to the various photographs on the walls.

The oldest one was a greying, wrinkled one, showing a young Sarah Jane with an older man with ridiculous hair and an even more ridiculous scarf- The Doctor in his fourth incarnation.

The rest showed an aged Sarah Jane, some with Rani, others with a dark skinned boy, another black-haired teenage boy and a girl. Mark didn't know who they were, but he noted that Sarah Jane looked youngest in the ones with the girl, and none showed Rani with the girl.

He assumed that meant they were around at different times. A thought popped into his head: what if Rani and these others were like Sarah Jane's companions? The gears in Mark's head began to turn, as the rolling stones of deduction hit home.

These kids, were like Sarah Jane's companions, just like herself had been the Doctor's…the Doctor never took the leaving too well; what if the same had happened here? For some reason, these three had left Sarah Jane -he doubted they were dead, Rani's behaviour didn't quite support that- moving on with their lives and it hit her hard, causing her to sink into depression.

It made sense, if Mark thought about it.

His detective-esque deductions were cut short when the door behind him creaked open. Mark spun around to find himself face to face with Sarah Jane Smith herself.

"Who the hell are you?" She demanded. "How did you get in here?"

"Well, umm…Rani, invited me." Mark explained hurriedly, nervous of invoking her temper. "We needed Mister Smith to help find the Krulius."

"The Krulius…" She breathed, all anger forgotten. "I can't…I'm sorry."

"Can't what?" Mark asked.

"Help you…" She answered. "I promised…never again." _Never again to save the world. _

"They left you, didn't they?" Mark said, sadly gesturing to the photographs on the wall. "And it broke your heart."

Her only response was to nod.

"Whatever happened to the brilliant Sarah Jane, the one the Doctor loved, the one that saved the world so many times?" Mark asked.

"She got tired." Sarah Jane answered stonily. "Tired of being alone."

"Is Rani dead?" Mark asked abruptly, bluntly. "Is the Doctor dead?" He marched to Sarah Jane's side and pointed at the wall. "Is anyone in those photographs dead?"

"No…" She answered, confused.

"So how are you alone?"

"They grew up, left me…" Sarah Jane muttered quietly.

"Like how you moved on from the Doctor?" Mark asked pointedly. Sarah Jane frowned. "How do you-"

Mark cut her off. "Doesn't matter. What _does _matter is that you are not alone. You've got Rani, and I'm more than willing to those three would drop everything if you asked them to and come running."

He paused, mulling over something be offering with a crooked smile: "Just because you've parted ways doesn't mean you're alone. You'll still be there, in their hearts and memories, just like they're in yours."

Sarah Jane fell silent in contemplation, pondering the nature of Mark's words.

"I…need to go…" She declared, before making a beeline for the door.

"Weeeellll, that went well." Mark commented dryly after she had left.

A minute or two later, Rani entered, clad in jeans. "What did you say to her?" Rani demanded.

"Something she needed to hear, that's all." Mark responded cryptically.

"Analysis complete." Mr Smith interrupted. The two turned towards him expectantly. The fluid model disappeared, replaced with a display of the Earth and nearby satellites. A single red dot pulsated above the Earth.

"I was able to trace the signal back to the Krulius' ship." The supercomputer informed them. "A _Starjumper_-class deep-space exploration ship, obsolete by most standards. However, it does boast a wide array of stealth systems, many of which are illegal under the Shadow Proclamation."

"So we know where it is now." Rani stated. "What now, do we tell UNIT?" She asked Mark.

Mark shook his head in the negative. "They don't have anything useful, and they'd just want to blow it up. It's up to us."

Rani grimaced. "Do we send a message or something?"

Mark shrugged. "Can if you want, reckon he'll listen?"

"Doubt it."

Mark grinned and nudged her in the arm. "But we're the good guys, so we do it anyway."

Rani laughed, before turning to Mr Smith.

"Can you open up a channel or something?" She requested.

"Establishing connection now." Mr Smith dutifully reported.

"Well, lets see the Darth Vader reject then…" Mark muttered under his breath.

The screen changed again, this time to a video display. Static flashed for a second across the display before resolving itself into the Krulius.

'Darth Vader reject' was not too far off the mark. The actual face was hidden behind a rebreather apparatus, with large goggles hiding the eyes. Dark coarse robes enshrouded the body, making the actual figure within difficult to distinguish.

"Least we cant smell him." Rani quipped quietly.

The Krulius seemed unsurprised by the sudden call, even expecting it._ The Sentinel might've tracked her after all…_

"Rani Chandra." The Krulius greeted. Its voice was an electronic rasp, filtered through the mask he wore. "Is Sarah Jane not with you? I doubt it's in her nature to delegate…"

"She's on holiday." Mark said dismissively. "Nice little trip to the Bahamas, y'know?"

"And just who are you?" The Krulius asked. "Has she picked up another half-form for her dangerous games?"

"I'm no child." Mark stated flatly, simply.

Rani chose this moment to cut to the chase. "Leave Earth or we'll be forced to stop you." She declared stalwartly.

The Krulius laughed, a horrible, grating thing, like a thousand nails down a chalkboard. Mark and Rani both winced.

"Stop me how? Nothing your pitiful little planet has could shoot me down!" Another laugh. "In fact, why don't you both become my first test subjects for my new project?"

"Crap." Mark hissed under his breath. _He's gonna teleport us. _They hadn't expected this.

The Krulius barked an order to something off screen. "Isolate them, bring them here!"

"Mr Smith, can you stop it?" Rani asked desperately.

"I can only divert-"

"_THEN DO IT_!" Mark and Rani roared in unison. Fields of blue light enclosed them both, before vanishing into non-existence, leaving the attic in sudden silence.

Neither Mark, Rani or the Krulius had noticed Sarah Jane watching from the doorway.

* * *

The world around Rani swam and faded in and out of dizzying darkness as the teleport deposited them in an unknown location.

Eventually, her breath returned and she was able to take in her surroundings for the first time. From the looks of it, they were in some sort of engineering storage room-dark and dank. Metallic alien crates were stacked up haphazardly in columns of five or more around the room . The floor was composed of metal grating, which pressed coldly against Rani's face. Off to one side was a viewport, revealing the void of space, onyx black save for the minute pinpricks of stars light-years away in the distance.

"You're fine." Came Mark's voice from her left. "No injuries." Rani managed to sit upright-big mistake, her head was still spinning-and turned towards him. He had donned a pair of tortoise-shell glasses, perched on the edge of his nose. His screwdriver was out and dancing over a control panel, mostly likely for the door to his right.

"Mr Smith managed to shunt us a couple hundred yards from our intended destination." He continued. "I think we're in the broom closet."

"Pretty big for a broom cupboard." Rani commented.

"Meh. I've seen bigger."

Rani stopped paying attention, having managed to reach her feet. She managed to stumble over to the viewport, and what she saw made her gasp. "Oh my god..."

Hanging weightlessly in the void was Earth. The giant blue orb, interspersed with green and white was a breathtaking sight. From space, it was hard to believe anyone had ever lived there. That it was a planet dying of pollution and war. A small part of brain -given up to hysterical giddiness- noted that she couldn't see the Great Wall of China…or any man-made construct for that matter.

It was incredible.

Mark had noticed Rani's sudden behaviour and abandoned his task to made his way over to the viewport next to her.

"First time?" He asked knowingly, the ghost of a soft smile on his lips.

"It's beautiful…" Rani breathed, held fast in an ethereal trance. She gently reached up and pressed her hand against the glass, as if hoping to reach out and touch the planet below. She had been in space before, but she had never _seen_ it, nor had she seen the Earth in such an amazing light.

"You survive, y'know." Mark, pocketing the spectacles and eyeing Rani furtively. Her only response was an almost unnoticeable tilt of the head. He continued. "Humans. Through all the war, and all the famine, and all the other crap, you _survive._ Right up till the end of the universe itself." His voice held a respectful, almost reverent tone. "and that's something."

Rani didn't respond. She was still consumed with the Earth.

Chuckling, but understandingly-almost guiltily- Mark reached out and gently grabbed her shoulder and gently pulled her away. "C'mon." He said softly. "We have to go."

Eventually, Rani was able to tear her eyes away and follow Mark over to the door. He once again produced his sonic screwdriver and jabbed it at the control panel. It hummed for a second and slowly the door slid up with a hiss, like something from _Star Trek._

A long, narrow corridor stretch outwards and turned out of sight. A walkway of metal grating hung over a series of pipes. It was in similar condition to the 'broom closet' -everything was dark, run down, old and rusty; probably like the rest of the ship.

"They could really do with a decorator…" Mark commented offhandedly, as the duo made their way through. He turned to Rani, a goofy grin on his face. "Y'know, splash of paint here, maybe some candles…"

Rani simply shook her head. "You're weird, you know that?"

Mark laughed. "Yeah, but I'm the cool kind. Like Gandalf. Or Albus Dumbledore."

"Ehhhh, not so much." Rani retorted, but without any real malice. He genuinely did seem to be the Doctor's grandson. He had that same air of aged wisdom and childish eccentricity about him.

The two reached another door. Once again Mark sonic'ed-Rani briefly wondered if that was even a real verb- it open to reveal a colossal cavern-like hall. Near-blinding neon light shone from a single massive orb in the ceiling, covering the room in clinical white light. All around them were racks of bluish white spheres. Rani realised that they were stasis pods: designed to store an organism within in suspended animation. She had seen them last time she had been on the Krulius' ship, but then there had been a meagre dozen or two. There was now upwards of fifty and then some.

Mark obviously recognised them too. A look of grief flashed across his features and he shook his head slightly, disparaging in the situation of the prisoners. "Oh, you poor little things…" He murmured. "I'm sorry, I'm so sorry."

"Can we help them?" Rani asked hopefully.

Mark shook his head, downcast. "Look at their skulls."

Rani cautiously crept closer to the nearest rack. In the lowest orb she could recognise a tiny alien called a Graske- diminutive, with cream skin and three head tails. A tiny monitor was attached to the metal frame that contained the pods, showing various vital signs.

Rani squinted through the blue haze, and saw what Mark had meant. A scar encircled the Graske's forehead, looping around full circle. She frowned, before sickening realisation hit her like an oncoming train.

"He took out their _brains_? Rani cried disbelievingly.

Mark simply nodded. "But they're still alive." Rani pointed out, gesturing to the vital signs monitor.

"Would've replaced them with cerebral nanocircuitry. And those things-" He gestured to a thin, ribbed column that connected to each alien at the base of the skull. "-are feeder tubes; they'll give them whatever nutrients and supplements they need."

He sighed and ran a tired hand through his hair, somehow managing to have aged a lifetime in a few heartbeats. "He didn't even give them dignity in death." His voice was cold, underlined with anger. "Dead corpses masquerading as living puppets."

Rani glanced at the spheres with pity. She could recognise Graske, Groske, Raxicoricofallipatorians, Veil, Judoon, Uvodni, Arcateenian; Some she had only ever seen thanks to Mr Smith: Draconians, Tereptils, Myuokootni; and some she couldn't even put a name to…

Rani regained control of herself and spoke objectively. "We've got to keep moving."

Mark hesitated for a spilt-second, still eying the spheres with sadness before nodding. "Yeah…"

He looked around, scrutinising the room as a whole. His eyes fell on a large set of doors across from them. He turned back towards Rani, the depression replaced with a manic, cheerful grin that didn't quite reach his eyes. "Come along, Chandra!" He called, before bounding towards the door, crazy youthful energy returning. "We've got a world to save!"

Rani quickly trotted after him, catching up just as he reached the door. He produced his screwdriver and pointed it in the direction of the control pad.

The door slid open…to reveal a group of Sentinels on the other side waiting expectantly. Mark and Rani stared wide-eyed with disbelief, before Mark spoke a single word that summed up the whole situation.

"Crap."

* * *

_**A/N**__: Well, that went alright. This was originally going to be a single chapter but I decided to spilt it. Part Two will probably be a fair bit shorter, depends. Now before I let you press that oh-so-attractive review button I just want to talk about a few things regarding this._

_1. Mark is not just a Gary Stu self-insert Doctor clone. He has a lot of the Doctor's quirks, but from Episode 3 onwards you should hopefully start to see a much more nuanced personality. We'll certainly be delving into his history and thought processes as the series goes on. I had to portray him as I did in this because of the chapter's set-up- lack of familiarity between characters._

_2. There will be first-person segments in later stories. I didn't include them here 'cause I didn't really think they fitted this set-up chapter. Expect a positive shift in the overall language as well._

_3.(last thing, I promise!). I like putting in subtle references. Cookies go to whoever finds the obvious ones. Quadruple cookies go to whoever can find the insanely complicated one that borders on sadistic. I'll even give you a clue: The Inbetweeners._

_So, read, review,( Or spam my inbox with speculation about the titles and summaries) and buckle up: this going to be one hell of a ride, with laughter, love, heartbreak and the insane adventures you can only find in the world of __**Doctor Who and the Sarah Jane Adventures**__…_

_All the best._


	2. First Day of the Rest of Your Life

_**Disclaimer: **__What can I say? I do good business._

_**A/N: **__As one reader asked: A-Levels are optional courses typically taken over two years. In Series 4 (by my own reckoning), they__'__ve would__'__ve been in their last year of schooling. I__'__m saying that this is set two/three months after four, so they would still be in their last year, but Clyde dropped out when he was offered the art scholarship. Hence why Rani__'__s still at school but Clyde isn__'__t._

_Also, I should point out: the Krulius isn__'__t mine, he was a character created for the SJA website comics._

_**THE NEW SARAH JANE ADVENTURES**_

_**Episode II**_

_First Day Of The Rest Of Your Life_

* * *

Sarah Jane stared down at the photographs strewn around her. Pictures of the past, ghosts of what had once been an extended family. Luke, Maria, Clyde…only Rani was left. And as she sat here cross-legged on her bed moping, Rani was away somewhere in danger. That strange boy seemed to know what he doing. He'd keep her safe. She hoped.

She gently traced her fingers over a picture of her son. Was this what she had become? Degenerate, broken, afraid? She knew she wasn't the same person she had been when the picture had been taken.

She had fallen farther than she'd thought. She was little more than a walking husk, full of memories of a life she hadn't wanted to end.

Once again, Sarah Jane mulled over the boy's words. _You__'__ll still be there. _Was he right? He had looked little more than a day over sixteen, but something about him suggested he had lived for a lifetime. That he knew what he was talking about.

Maybe he _was _right. They hadn't left her. Not really. They were still out there, living their lives, thinking of her and her of them.

For the first time in so long, Sarah Jane felt _resolve_. Resolve to do the right thing, to stand against the fire and fury and stay defiant. No more would she be a passing wisp, but a stout statue, defender of the Earth from the monsters and demons of the stars.

She made her choice.

* * *

_A part of her knew there was more to her depression than that though. Something else, elusive __–__ a child__'__s face lost to her, and as meaningless as a passer-by on the street. But there was something there. She just didn__'__t know what._

* * *

"Y'know, maybe you should think about getting the _Hotel Inspector _in." Mark spoke casually to his Sentinel captors. "I mean c'mon, the décor is terrible and don't even get me started on the abysmal service…"

To his left, Rani rolled her eyes at Mark's ramblings. They were both strapped to some sort of metal operating table, completely bound at the wrists and ankles.

"I mean maybe, _maybe_ if you threw in like a breakfast deal or something it would be alright.' He continued, completely unaware-or uncaring- that the Sentinels neither understood or were even listening to him. 'But right now I couldn't recommend this place in good conscience. Sorry."

Rani glared at Mark, not quite as comfortable with the current situation as he was. "Do you have any idea just how much rubbish comes out your mouth?" She asked wearily.

"Well, I'd expect a somewhat high amount…"

Their bickering was cut short when the doors opposite slid open, and the Krulius strode in, robes billowing around him. Mark suddenly understood Rani's earlier joke about being unable to smell him.

He_ stank._ It was literally as if someone had taken all the refuse and waste and every other foul smelling thing in the galaxy and compressed it into his rebreather.

"Mate, one word: _Tic Tacs.__"_'

"That was two, actually…"

"I…quiet, Chandra."

The Krulius watched on, observing them in irritation. Eventually, he snapped and snarled: "Silence!"

Mark however, was completely unfazed. "Calm down dear." He chimed. "It's only a commercial!"

The Krulius sputtered at Mark's casual bravado, and next to him, Rani couldn't help but break out in raucous laughter. "That was just terrible!"

The Krulius had reached the end of his tether. He gestured towards a single drone, bearing a large metallic orb that almost resembled a human eye. The drone stepped forwards and Mark recognized the spherical device.

"That's a telepathic scanner isn't it?" Mark asked, already knowing the answer.

"Indeed, half-form." The Krulius replied. "A critical piece of any research prior to practical testing is documentation of the subjects yes?"

"I suppose…" He turned away from the two prisoners and busied himself in preparing the alien device-pushing buttons, calibration set-ups and diagnostic self-scans.

"What's a telepathic scanner?2 Rani whispered to Mark. "Well, it telepathically scans you -funny that- and then extracts the desired information. You can't lie to yourself, after all. Some planets use it as evidence in criminal trials."

"Right."

Mark turned his attention to the Krulius, who had shifted his focus from the display in front of him to the two prisoners. The telepathic scanner lit up and floated over to Mark, who eyed it with bored interest.

"I think your overly ambitious mouth has earned you the right to go first."

"Awesome." Mark didn't seem fazed in the slightest. Blue light extended from the eye and danced across his body. It beeped, and then stopped. On the various screens information appeared.

_**[: **__NAME: MARK AULD  
_

_**[: **__AGE: 13, 412,000. 057_

_**[: **__SPECIES: ERROR. _

The rest was a mass of physiological data, body structure models, heart rates, chemical compositions and the like. Although the computer obviously didn't understand the concept of a Human-Time Lord hybrid. Unsurprising, considering all the evidence said such an organism to be impossible.

"Sounds about right." Mark agreed.

The Krulius gaped at the results, obviously caught unawares by the strange results. Rani did too, judging by the frown. He had told her his age went into the millions, but the probe had returned that he was around the same age as the universe. There was a story or two in that.

After Rani had been scanned, returning accurate, if a little more mundane, information, she asked: "What happens now?"

The Krulius smirked. "Now, you are to be processed."

"What, take out our brains and turn us into cybernetic slaves?" Rani snarled.

"More or less." The Krulius shrugged. "Once all useful genetic data has been extracted, your conversion is the only use I have for you."

Then, out of nowhere. "Hold it right there, Krulius!"

It was Sarah Jane.

* * *

TEN MINUTES EARLIER

Sarah Jane strolled into the attic with renewed purpose and vigour. Almost cheerfully, she addressed the Xylok in the wall. "Mister Smith."

"Sarah Jane?"

"Do you know where Rani was teleported to?"

"Indeed. The Krulius' ship-"

"Not important." She said, cutting off the supercomputer. "Can you access the teleport matrix?"

A pause. "Yes."

Sarah Jane nodded to herself, and picked up a familiar gold cylinder. She unscrewed the end, revealing a red diode. The sonic lipstick buzzed in response when she pressed the button. Good.

"Then I want you to access it and get me up there."

"Very well…am I to take this as that you intend to resume your activities in interacting with aliens?." Mr Smith asked genially.

"Oh yes. I've been out of it for too long." Sarah Jane smirked. She never should have left.

"Very well." Mr Smith said. "Activating teleport in three…two…one."

A flash of iridescent blue, and Sarah Jane was deposited into what she could only assume was a transmat station room. Thankfully, it was deserted and she was able to step off the teleport pad unobstructed. The room was more like an engineering storeroom than anything else. There were toolboxes and wire and greasy spare parts scattered around, like a teenager's room.

Exiting the room to find a corridor filled with steam-hissing pipes covered in grime. Obviously the Krulius didn't care much about the ship. She would've hazarded a guess that the whole ship was in a state of disrepair.

She scanned with the lipstick as she made her way down the corridor, searching for life signs and energy readings. Nothing nearby in regards to energy readings – the drives and reactors were on the other end of the ship. However, the lipstick detected a large but diverse group of organisms nearby.

Three right turns and a sudden left later, she found herself in a room filled with massive monitors, computer terminals and what Sarah Jane believed were the equivalent to data servers. In the centre of the room, inserted into a pedestal was a glowing rod, tinted green.

She recognised it as a device called a relative memory drive – capable of storing yottabytes of data. More than enough to store the genomes and data of a hundred thousand species, if not more. Incredibly hard to find, and not something you'd have in spares.

She decided to take it. Perhaps it could make for a useful bargaining chip. Carefully she reached out, and with utmost gentleness pulled the drive out slowly. It left the port with a _click_, and the port sealed itself with a mild hiss.

There were footsteps outside the door. Hurriedly, she ducked behind a monitor and waited, scarcely willing to breath. The, door slid open, and in came a troll-like creature. Obviously, it was one of the Krulius' pet toys. It looked around the room, before buzzing and clicking in an alien tongue. Of the screens lit up – an image of the creature was displayed, with the words _SENTINEL 32 PRESENT IN DATA ROOM _in bold yellow letters. So it was called a Sentinel then.

It didn't notice her, and eventually left. Surreptitiously, she followed it. Her choice seemed to be the right one as it moved with unmistakable purpose, heading for an unknown, but specific destination.

It eventually led her towards what must have been some sort of command room. Realising it wouldn't be a good idea to enter the lion's den, so to speak. So she hung back and watched it enter the room, the doors closing behind it and decided to find a more discreet entrance.

There were ventilation shafts to her left. With the sonic lipstick, she undid the screws – aliens used screws? – and lifted the mesh panel away. She crawled in, ignoring the pangs of nostalgia that accompanied ventilation shafts. How many had she ended up crawling through in her travels with the Doctor? Too many…

She found herself looking over the room the Sentinel had entered from an overhead catwalk, and it wasn't quite a control room. It was a laboratory. And in the laboratory was the Krulius. Rani and the boy were there too, clamped down to metal tables.

"Once all useful genetic data has been extracted, your conversion is the only use I have for you."

Like she was going to let that happen. "Hold it right there, Krulius!"

Instantly, the robed alien along with the Sentinels and the two children all turned to her in shock. Obviously, she hadn't been expected.

"Knew it…" muttered the boy. Sarah Jane really would have to find out his name. Rani just beamed. The Krulius was surprised.

"Sarah Jane Smith. I was wondering why you were sending mere children against me. A distraction." He growled, stepping away from his console to get a better view.

"Not quite. More a last minute change of plans." She replied cheerfully. "Now, I think you know what I'm about to say." Her tone grew cold.

"Leave the planet, or you'll stop me." The Krulius snorted. "I think not Sarah Jane. Your previous victories were mere chance."

"Fool me once." Sarah Jane retorted dryly. "Fool me twice, as the saying goes."

"You are in _my _domain now, Sarah Jane. And I had your halfings." He threatened, gesturing to his two captives.

"And _I_ have your relativity drive."

"How- nevermind. Sentinels, seize her! Do not damage the drive!" The Krulius barked. Sarah Jane was already in action, sprinting across the catwalk despite her age, and managing to avoid blasts of deadly red energy, which sent showers of sparks wherever they connected with metal.

"Do not let her get away!"

* * *

Rani watched as the Krulius stormed out of the lab after Sarah Jane. Now, if she could get out of these bindings then she could actually help the journalist. Out of the corner of her eye, she saw Mark slide down from the table, able to move freely. "How'd you do that?"

Mark was nonchalant. "Never play Houdini at hide and seek. Took me a week to find him." He pulled out his sonic screwdriver and buzzed it over her bindings, which opened and allowed her to slide down to be helped up by Mark.

"We've got to help Sarah Jane." Rani said resolutely. Mark nodded in agreement. "Let's go."

The two ran out the same door the Krulius had departed from. At the end of the corridor they had planned to go down was a Sentinel. And it had seen them. "This way!" Mark yelled, grabbing her hand and pulling her to the right. The Sentinel roared and began to sprint after them.

Talk about _Déjà vu._ Rani was pretty sure they had been doing the same thing a few hours earlier. Except they had been at Park Vale, and not on a spaceship. In space. Space!

The two darted through what she wanted to say was the fifth set of doors they had bolted through to escape the Sentinel, and Mark spun around raising the screwdriver to the door and activating it. The door closed just as the Sentinel smashed into it, causing it to bend and cave towards them. It seemed to have knocked itself unconscious, as nothing else happened after that.

"Durasteel doors, from Cerna Six. Good smelting factories." Mark noted, breathing heavily. Rani was panting, and tried to steady herself against a pipe running across the wall, only to yelp and pull her hand away. "Ow! That's hot!"

Mark cocked an eyebrow. He pulled out his glasses again and began to pry off a maintenance panel, revealing a small monitor and a mass of tangled wires. "Always look at the plumbing. The pipes are to pump heat away from something."

"The reactor?" Rani guessed. Mark nodded, and with the screwdriver he was able to display a schematic of the ship's power systems. Up at the top end of the ship was a large orb structure, inside of which was what could only be described as a miniature sun.

"Solaris drive." Mark said. "Thermonuclear explosion held in a magnetic field, using all the heat and radiation you could power a ship this size for a good five thousand years – assuming you can keep the magnetic field active."

"And if you don't?" Rani asked.

"Boom!" Mark said simply. "All the heat and radiation bleeds out. Whole ship'll just melt or explode."

"Where's Sarah Jane?"

"Hang on." Mark muttered, fiddling with a few wires. Red, blue and white dots flashed across the ship schematic. "Red's us and Sarah Jane. Blue's Krulius and Sentinels. White are the converted lifeforms."

Two red dots were close to the aft of the ship. The third was headed towards the power drives, perhaps unintentionally. It was being followed by a mass of blue.

"Sarah Jane needs help." Rani pointed out. "She's headed for the power supply."

"The Krulius has begun to lock down parts of the ship." Mark informed her. "We'll need an army to get through all those Sentinels to reach Sarah Jane."

Rani huffed. They couldn't just give up! She needed them. Her eyes settled on the mass of white. Then, an idea blossomed.

"We've got one."

* * *

Sarah Jane bolted through corridor after corridor, clutching the relativity drive in one hand, lipstick in the other. If the increasing heat was anything to go by, she was heading towards the ships reactors. She wasn't sure if that was a good thing or not.

She dashed through the umpteenth set of doors, and found herself in a cavernous room. Walkways and gentries and ladders all orbited around a miniature star, which she found herself unable to look at for long. _Guess this is the core power system then._

Worse, she couldn't find another way out. She had hit a dead end. She sonic-ed the door she had entered through shut and fused the lock, so the Sentinels couldn't simply open the door. It wouldn't hold them for long, but it just might by her the time to formulate an escape plan.

Five minutes of fruitless labour later and the banging started. Five minutes after that, and the sound of blowtorches were heard.

* * *

"I'm starting to have second thoughts about this." Rani muttered, looking at Mark uncertainly. They had returned to the pod room and accessed the cerebral network of the converted aliens held in the stasis pods. They were going to use them to fight against the Sentinels.

"They're just shells, Rani." Mark told her sincerely. "We can't do anything for them. And it's the only way to get to Sarah Jane." He tapped a few keys before tossing his screwdriver to Rani. "Use it on that panel there. You need to override the security containment protocols while I access the command prompt."

He reached into his pocket and pulled out another device. Unlike his other screwdriver, this one was larger, covered in brass in places and with a green diode held by four sliver claws.

"You've got two screwdrivers?"

"Doesn't everyone?" He rolled his eyes. "Security protocols, _s'il vous plait?_"

Rani shrugged and did what she was told. Words and numbers scrolled across the display. "Hey, Mark?"

"What now?"

"How come most of the aliens I've come across can speak and read English?"

Mark looked up from his panel and eyed her incredulously. "You've just cottoned on to that?"

"Well…" She muttered abashed.

He sighed. "It's common practice for the greater galactic community to have universal translators implanted. Usually they're little things, kinda like tiny red coins. After a while you forget you even have it."

"Huh. Never knew that."

"You learn something new every- aha! I'm in." Mark declared. "Now, to just transmit their orders." He levelled his screwdriver and flicked the prongs open, buzzing with green light. The creatures in the pods began to stir, and the pods spilt open, expelling their charges. Rani couldn't help but think of childbirth.

"We're really doing this." She said regretfully. Mark turned to her with sympathy. "I know. I feel bad too. But in all seriousness, they don't have any independent thought anymore. And a lot more people are going to suffer unless we do this. Big picture and all that."

"I know." Rani told him.

* * *

In a shower of sparks and metal flakes, the door finally fell, revealing the Krulius and his Sentinels. Sarah Jane levelled her eyes at them, staring defiantly.

"You have lost Miss Smith." The Krulius said. "Give me the drive and I'll give you a quick death, rather than feed you to my pets.

"I'm not done yet, Krulius!" Sarah Jane yelled. "Relativity drives use temporal shifts and chronal radiation to store its data. I can toss it into your star drive and blow up the whole ship!"

"And kill your two halfings." Krulius pointed out, calling her on her bluff.

Sarah Jane raised the drive. "I'll do it!"

But the Krulius knew he had her. And Sarah Jane knew it too. No matter what, she couldn't kill Rani. And a part of her knew she couldn't simply kill the Krulius either. That wasn't how she worked. Never had been.

"So do it."

Sarah Jane sighed, and slumped. The Sentinels advanced.

But then, there was noises. Far off cries and screams. A battle was being waged. Even the Krulius was nonplussed. "What the-"

A green Slitheen and a hominid rhino Judoon came charging into the room, crashing into two of the Sentinels and taking them over the edge. A dragon-like creature came next, a wrestled with a pair of Sentinels.

"What is the meaning of this?" The Krulius cried.

In the corridor amidst the fighting between the Sentinels and a conglomeration of alien races, Sarah Jane could see Rani and the boy determinably moving up the hall, manoeuvring between brawls towards the power room.

"You really need better firewalls Krulius!" The boy called. "It's like leaving the keys in the ignition –you know some little brat is gonna come and take it for a joyride. Actually, come to think of it, your whole ship is junk. Your security systems are rubbish."

"Sarah Jane!" Rani called. "Thank God you're alright!"

"How did you-" She tried to ask.

"Not important." The boy cut her off. Sarah Jane nodded, before turning to the Krulius.

"Well then, it seems we're at an impasse." She noted, wary of any fighting beasts. The Krulius hissed. "Leave Earth alone, and we'll let you escape."

"YOU WILL NOT DEFACE MY WORK!" The Krulius roared, pulling a small blaster from the folds of his black robes. He raised it, fired it at Sarah Jane. The blast caught the relativity drive, knocking it from her hands, and into the star behind her. It entered the fiery orb and shattered. Instantly, lightning began to crackle across the surface of the sun.

"NO!" The Krulius howled, falling to his knees. Realising what was about to happen, she dived around the scientist and made for the door, and tiny explosions were set off around the room.

"Run!" She yelled at the two children. She was about to leave when she glanced back at the broken-hearted Krulius, kneeling on the floor in melancholy. For the briefest instant, Sarah Jane considered helping him, but when she saw him straighten with furious intent, she knew she was better off running.

Sarah Jane, Rani and the boy – she still didn't know his name – bolted through the corridors, leaping around fighting aliens and collapsing spaceship. She led them through explosions all the way to the other end of the ship where she had arrived – the teleport room. The boy aimed a sonic device at the terminal and the three jumped on the pad. The teleport matrix kicked in just as the ship was wracked with shockwaves…

* * *

A flash, a scream and a thud later saw Sarah Jane staring at clouds and blue sky. She was back on terra nova. Laughing, she sat up and realised she was sitting on grass. In fact, the teleport had deposited her in a park. She was back in Ealing.

To her left and her right respectively were Rani and the boy, grinning back at her. She grinned too, and extended a hand towards the boy.

"Sarah Jane Smith, freelance journalist."

The boy grinned and accepted the hand. "Mark Auld, time-traveller."

"Pleasure."

"Oh, the pleasure is all mine, Miss Smith."

Sarah Jane laughed. She was back.

* * *

A few hours later, the sun had set and the Ealing sky had turned to night. Lances of light danced across the sky in innocent beauty. A meteor shower. Sarah Jane and Mark were in the former's back garden, on patio chairs.

"So you're his grandson?"

"Yep." Mark answered. "Well kind of. It's complicated."

Sarah Jane laughed. "He always is. What face is he on now?"

"Uhh…eleven, yeah. Tweed, bowtie. Strange choice in headwear." Mark snorted. "Although I've met most of the others, not that he knows."

"I've met that one before." Sarah Jane laughed. "Did he ever take you to Peladon?"

"Nah." Mark said. "Met Leonardo da Vinci though. That was a laugh."

Sarah Jane nodded. "He took me to see Beethoven once."

"Ah the wonders of time travel." Mark chuckled.

"Indeed." Sarah Jane agreed. Rani emerged from the house, bearing a tray laden with drinks. "That's not a normal meteor shower, is it?" She said, nodding at the sky.

"Not in the slightest." Mark nodded. "It's the ship's wreckage skimming the atmosphere."

"According to Mister Smith, none of it will hot groundside and the ozone layer will stop any dangerous radiation." Sarah Jane added.

Rani smiled as she passed out the drinks and took a seat. "It's really nice to have the old you back, Sarah Jane."

She smiled sadly and accepted her glass. "I don't know what came over me. It couldn't have just been because Luke and Clyde and yourself were all going our separate ways. There has to be something more."

"Maybe you got exposed to some kind of mental affliction over the years." Mark suggested.

"Maybe." Sarah Jane agreed. "But I think it's something more. Something bigger. Something I've forgotten."

"Well, whatever it is." Rani said optimistically. "We'll face it together, yeah?"

Sarah Jane nodded and smiled, and raised her glass in toast. "To friends old and new."

"To friends old and new." Rani and Mark repeated, before drinking.

"Guess we're the new Bannerman Road team then." Sarah Jane noted.

"Well, Earth could do a lot worse."

_At the end of the day, it doesn't matter who you are, or what you're doing. If you're saving the world, it's always better to have friends by your side, no matter if they're old or new. After all, few adventures are fun alone._

* * *

_**Sun and Clouds**_

_**Moon and Stars**_

_**Here comes the time of Mars**_

_**At the end of it all, as the world dies**_

_**It's all about a girl called Sky…**_

* * *

_**A/N: **__Well, what did we all think? A lot of you may have been wondering where I've been and watching this story (series) hopefully, and I'm glad to say I'm back. It's amazing how new things can change your old ideas. For example, I've made a series wide arc on a new character in Series 5. Check out my profile if you want the CURRENT episode list, i.e the stories I currently plan on doing, although that could change._

_Read, review, subscribe favourite and whatever else. You know you want to._

_All the best, Whovians!_


	3. The Life of Sarah Jane Smith

_**Disclaimer: **__Don't own it, sadly. Or I'd commission a range of proper books for it._

_**A/N: **__Curse of Clyde Langer was epic. That is all._

_**THE NEW SARAH JANE ADVENTURES**_

_**Episode Three**_

_The Life of Sarah Jane Smith_

* * *

LONDON, 8:15 am

_Beep-beep. Beep-beep. Beep-beep._

Huffing, Sarah Jane smacked down on the offending alarm clock. Infernal little thing, she didn't see why her husband liked it so much. He said he found it "cute". With a sigh, she shuffled out of bed, and as she pulled on her dressing gown, she realised she could smell the aroma of a fry-up. Peter was cooking again.

Smiling slightly now, she padded down the stairs and with a glance into the living room saw her thirteen year old son, Luke watching the television in his pyjamas. He didn't notice her. The television screen flickered with static, and the previous show – something with a dog and a magician – was replaced by a pair of faces, one girl and one boy.

Sarah Jane froze. _No, no, not again._

"Sarah Jane, you need to wake up!" The girl – dark-skinned, Asian features but an English accent.

"It's no good Rani, she can't hear us." The boy muttered, with the whiff of a Scottish brogue. He raised some green light torch and waved it across the screen, with a low-pitched buzzing accompanying it. Just like when the boy – she refused to call the hallucination Mark – always used that contraption she felt a stinging headache. _Go away, go away, go away…_

"Mum?" Luke asked curiously. "You okay?"

Sarah Jane started. The television was back to normal. "I'm fine sweetie. Go get dressed. Daddy's making us breakfast."

With a dejected sigh, Luke got up and stomped past her. Sarah Jane released the breath she hadn't realised she had been holding. The therapist had said she was fine now. Those faces, those voices shouldn't be around anymore. They had been gone for months! She couldn't deal with it all again. Those stupid hallucinations, talking about timelines and aliens and space-time explosions, she didn't need them.

Breakfast smelt good. It tasted even better. Bacon, eggs, sausages and toast.

"Well." Her husband, Peter joked at the thousandth compliment. "One of us has to be the chef of the house, and since you keep burning it…"

"Hey!" She defended herself, and taking a sip of orange juice. "One time."

"Because I haven't let you cook since." He teased. His smile turned to a worried frown. "What is it, what's wrong?"

She sighed and ran a stressed hand through her hair. "It's nothing."

"Is it _them?_ I can call the doctor-"

"It's nothing!" Sarah Jane snapped. Peter pursed his lips, but otherwise held his tongue. He had long since learned his wife's temper.

An hour later and Sarah Jane left the house, dressed and ready for her day's assignment: investigating the reports of Dodo overpopulation in the countryside, followed by an interview with a small time band calling themselves the Beatles. Then she had to finish her article on the new dinosaur arrivals at the London Zoo.

She certainly had a busy day ahead. She really didn't need any more visions.

* * *

LONDON, 6:03 pm

Sarah Jane lay unconscious in the attic of Thirteen Bannerman Road, under the protective gaze of Mark Auld and Rani Chandra. They had no idea what had befallen her – they had simply found her here, in the attic unconscious. They knew it couldn't be good.

"Any ideas?" Rani prompted Mark and the attic's supercomputer. Mark sighed and pocketed his sonic screwdriver. "Not really." He said regretfully. "It's something timey-wimey though. Space-wacey. Pain in the backside."

"Is it dangerous?"

"Of course it is." Mark rolled his eyes in exasperation. "What else would it be?"

"And yet you don't know what it is." Rani pointed out.

Mark harrumphed at that. "I'm a Time Lord. I know my timey-wimey. And I can feel that whatever is afflicting Sarah Jane is bad. Like really bad."

"How bad?" Rani asked nervously. Mark began to wring his hands and pace back and forth.

"Really, really bad. It's all going south. I'm talking end-of-the-world bad. I'm talking toast landing butter-side down bad. I'm talking Tesco's cheaper than Asda bad. I'm talking _Star Wars_ prequel bad. I'm talking your allergic aunt taking a bite of a peanut butter sandwich bad!" By the end he was waving his hands around madly.

"Guess I'm missing _Beaver Falls _then." Rani muttered.

"There you go! Finding the upside in everything." Mark beamed. "I like that about you."

"No- I _like_ that show."

Mark's face fell. "Oh. Really?"

Rani cocked an eyebrow. Mark raised his hands defensively. "Okay, okay. Back on topic."

* * *

LONDON, 10:25 am

As Sarah Jane drove in her hover-car towards the Tower of London – urban legend said that Guy Fawkes was imprisoned there after trying to blow up the Parliament three days ago. Something in that musing felt wrong to Sarah Jane, but she paid it no real mind.

The whole world was punctuated by things that didn't add up. Animals in habitats that didn't make sense – there were polar bears in Egypt and crocodiles on the North Pole – yet scientists said that they were naturally suited to other environments. Historical books presented events that happened in the current day. And then there were the clocks. They ran so slow, almost as if they were out of sync with reality. It made no sense, and yet it did.

After all, if you grew up knowing the world, what could you think was wrong?

She reached for the radio, hoping for some music to dispel the thoughts of contradiction that plagued her mind. For an instant, music filled the vehicle, then, a burst of static.

"_Well, Rani, it's like, uh…ever heard of chronal duplicity theory? No? Didn't think so, not even a real concept yet for humans."_

With a help, Sarah Jane dived for the radio and switched it off, swerving in the airways, much to the discontent of her fellow drivers. She did _not_ need this right now. Those damn voices had followed her throughout her adult life. They had been there when she had gotten her first big job at the paper years ago, they had been there when she had married Peter. Even during Luke's birth. A string of therapists and psychiatrists and pills and techniques had done nothing to get rid of them. No one was quite sure what to do about the voices only she could hear.

She was lucky not to have ended up in an asylum.

* * *

LONDON, 6:37 pm

From places unknown, Mark had pulled seven mirrors, three coffee machines, four laptops, a portable radar and something he called a "temporal projector". The seven mirrors were circled around Sarah Jane while the machines had been pulled apart and rebuilt and lashed together by metres of coloured wire that Mark had pulled from his pocket.

"Umm…" Rani began. "What is all this?"

Mark, sonic in hand and with his brainy specs didn't look up from his work. "It's a thing, okay? A time thing. I can't be bothered coming up with a name."

"What does it do?"

"Well, the mirrors act as refractors for the chronon energy generated by the projector. We can then direct that energy to engineer a complex space-time distortion which will destabilise the temporal paradigm that whatever is harming Sarah Jane is using and allow it to be perceived by four-dimensional creatures." Mark babbled.

"Uh, English?"

"Timey-wimey mirror, lets us see what's wrong with Sarah Jane." Mark deadpanned slowly, as if talking to a five-year old.

"Sorry I don't have a perfect understanding of temporal physics." Rani muttered.

"Then what do they teach in school these days?"

"But you went to-"

"Aha!" Mark cried jubilantly, cutting her off. "It's live."

Rani momentarily forgot her annoyance. "Will it hurt her?"

"Won't even feel a thing." Mark smiled. "Mister Smith, activate time array."

"Activating." The supercomputer rumbled. The lashed-together machine began to whir and whine and vibrate. Sparks flew from a few loose cables, and air seemed to ripple around Sarah Jane within the ring of mirrors.

Rani frowned, and then her mouth opened in an "O" of pure shock. "What the hell is _that?_"

Wrapped around Sarah Jane's neck with deadly grace was a snake. A lithe thing, with sleek, shiny onyx-coloured scales. Its eyes were amber slits, and seemed to promise nothing put danger. It was wrong. Like it didn't belong in the world, somehow. Almost like it was unnatural. Rani had never felt such trepidation towards a lifeform like she was with the thing. And she had seen a lot of evil and wonderful aliens. Mark, however, simply looked at the thing with a look of grave recognition.

"What is it?" Rani asked, warily. Part of her didn't want to know the answer.

"It's called a _texar exjim._" Mark said quietly. "They're a servant race for the Trickster's Brigade."

Rani started. "Trickster? He has a _brigrade?_"

Nodding, Mark spoke again. "Yup. An army of pawns and proxy agents, tasked with creating chaos in the universe. This thing in particular is a real piece of work. The Eternals tried to wipe them out when the universe was in its infancy."

"Eternals?"

"Demi-gods, basically."

"Right." Rani said. "So whys this one so bad?"

Mark looked at her seriously. "Let's just say it has one hell of a party trick. Basically, it doesn't just change the timeline. It _mutilates_ it."

"How?"

Mark paused wondering how best to explain. How does one explain complex temporal theory without giving _themselves_ a headache? He began to talk again, making subtle gestures with his hand and pacing back and forth. Almost like a teacher, really. "Usually, when you change the timeline it simply diverges, like a branch. And forever more, those two timelines, those two possibilities go off and never crossover again."

He noticed a notepad and picked it up. Using a pen found in one of his pockets, he drew two straight parallel lines and held them the pad up to Rani. "This is the normal Trickster-timeline-change scenario."

"Right. So the Trickster or his brigrade change the timeline and cause havoc, but the timeline itself is stable?" Rani concluded.

"Exactly!" Mark smiled.

"So this thing does something to cause time itself to destabilise?" Rani continued, beginning to see where he was going.

"Yup. It actually spilts its victim between two timelines simultaneously." Mark said.

"So Sarah Jane's mind is in an alternate timeline?"

He drew two new lines, this time crossing over in an "x" shape. "Yeah. But that isn't the problem. I mean it is, but the universe can deal with that. Salazar over there though, what he does is act as a focal point for the two timelines, meaning that eventually, Sarah Jane will be at the exact same moment in time, on two timelines, simultaneously." Mark said.

"And that's the problem?" Rani guessed.

Mark nodded again. _"_Well, Rani, it's like, uh…ever heard of chronal duplicity theory? No? Didn't think so, not even a real concept yet for humans. Basically, a person, or object – well, technically any matter – can't exist on two timelines at the exact same moment in time. It's one of those intricacies of time travel you don't come across often."

"It's basically a temporal impossibility, like a paradox." Rani guessed. Mark beamed and snapped his fingers at her. "Exactly!"

"So what happens then?"

It was Mr Smith who answered. "There has never been a confirmed instance of chronal duplication theory in effect, but it is believed that there would be a rip in the fabric of space-time."

Rani frowned. "Hang on. Wouldn't this already have happened? If the timelines were independent, then it would've already happened and rippled back on us."

Mark stared at her. "Wow. You're cleverer than I thought. But no. Time isn't a line. It's all relative and subjective and fluctuating and confusing."

"Okay. So we've got time to fix this then?"

"Mister Smith?" Mark asked the supercomputer.

"Space-time event will occur at seven thirteen PM." Mr Smith informed them neutrally. That meant thirty-six minutes to doomsday.

"Definitely butter-side-down bad." Rani said, hoping to relieve the all too palpable tension that had settled in the attic. Then she frowned. "How is the second timeline created? Like how is it different besides the change? Obviously, Sarah Jane won't remember the original – that'd be too easy."

Mark smiled slightly in praise for her reasoning. "It's probably compressed. Thirteen and a half billion years squashed into a few hours. History will bleed together and fold in on itself. Of course, it'll also possibly be based partially on Sarah Jane's deepest desires. Her dream life. The last failsafe."

"To make it harder for her if she found out about the two timelines?"

"Yeah." Mark said sadly. "Not that there's much we can do about that. We need something to get onto the artificial timeline."

Rani could see his line of thought. They needed a time machine.

They needed the Doctor.

* * *

LONDON, 11:17 am

Sarah Jane made sure to pat down any creases in her trousers, and that not a hair was out of place on her head. One of the many rules of journalism: always look professional. No one wanted to talk to someone who looked like they had been in a fight. A good image showed you knew what you were doing. And if you looked like you knew what you were doing, people were more likely to trust you and talk.

Not that such an effort would be particularly necessary for this job. A simple routine piece on the over-population of the Dodos in the countryside, and what steps should be taken. Hardly high on the list of important things – everyone was desperate these days for the latest gossip on Cleopatra and Mark Antonius – the couple of the century, and the latest Gladiator results.

Stangely, the man she was due to interview called himself Dr John Smith, although when asked what he was actually a doctor of, he simply said "the universe". And then there was the place they were due to meet. Not an office, or a café, but the London Museum. He didn't work there – she had checked – so Sarah Jane wasn't quite sure what to expect.

She entered the museum atrium. Lots of grey marble, designed to give a sense of cool style and professionalism. In the centre of the atrium there was a ring-shaped desk, where the receptionist – a young man, probably fresh from college – was talking on the phone to someone. Sarah Jane calmly walked up to the desk and waited patiently for the receptionist to finish. Eventually, he did and turned towards her expectantly.

"Hello." She greeted him, smiling. "My name is Sarah Jane Smith. I'm a journalist, here for a meeting with a Doctor John Smith?"

The receptionist – she noted the little badge on his lapel said _Jack_ – nodded and quickly typed something into his computer. "He's waiting for you in the modern history exhibit."

Sarah Jane smiled. "Thank you."

Five minutes later, she was walking into the aforementioned section of the building. It was a circular room, with each exhibit located behind a glass wall, with a little stand in front with information printed on a square of white plastic. There was a selection of weaponry from the Third Crusade, a telegram machine, the fossilised remains of an _Archaeopteryx,_ and a dozen other exhibits based on the last century or so,along with one marked "in progress" with yellow tape covering the glass, although she thought she saw something blue behind it.

And examining the telegram machine with an amused smile was a …striking man. Middle-aged, probably late forties. Wavy ginger locks framed a weathered face with piercing green eyes and a bit too-large nose. His clothes were bizarre to say the least – he was wearing a red-blue tartan suit jacket, dungarees and a pair of boots.

_I think I preferred him with the scarf._ Sarah Jane blinked. Where had that come from?

"It's a funny old thing, Time." The man – John Smith – said, in a rich voice. "Time. Capital "T", by the way."

"There's a difference?" Sarah Jane asked. She wasn't too sure where this was going.

"Oh, there's all the difference in the world, my dear." The man continued. "Time without a capital is just boring old time. 'What time is it?' or perhaps 'bed time'. Now_ Time_ with a capital "T", now that's a much more grandiose thing, beyond the thought of human imagination."

Sarah Jane couldn't be bothered to humour him anymore. "Doctor Smith?"

"I prefer just the Doctor, to be honest. Capital "D". Heh. Capital "D" for Doctor and capital "T" for Time. Funny that."

_Doctor? Doctor who?_

_Just the Doctor. The one, the only and the best!_

"My name is Sarah Jane, Doctor, and I'm here-"

"To talk about the overpopulation of Dodos in the countryside. A pretence, I'm afraid."

Sarah Jane suddenly began to have a bad feeling in the pit of her stomach. Part of her was screaming to run away. Part of her, however – the stupid part, the younger girl who dreamt of adventure – was secretly curious. "Pretence for what?"

"Why to talk to you of course!" The Doctor cried jubilantly. "Would you care for a sherbet lemon, my dear?"

_Sherbet lemon. Wrong. Jelly babies._

"Something wrong, Miss Smith?" The Doctor asked, eying her worriedly. Sarah Jane blinked, suddenly flustered. "Oh, erm, nothing. Just a stray thought."

The Doctor laughed. "Ah, those little rascals. I have them all the time."

She smiled awkwardly. He frowned slightly, and pocketed the little paper bag he had produced a few seconds ago. "Problem?"

"What do you want from me?"

The Doctor frowned. He shrugged. "There are some things, Miss Smith, that go beyond our understanding."

"Is that so?"

The Doctor sighed. "What time is it?"

The question took Sarah Jane back. "The time?"

"The time." He repeated quietly.

"The same time it always is. Eight-fifteen." Sarah Jane snapped. So many pointless questions!

"Is it?"

Sarah Jane rolled her eyes, pulled up her sleeve to reveal her watch and raised it to his eyes as proof. When he simply cocked his eyebrow at her, she actually looked at the clock-face itself. And she was shocked. The time had _changed_. The clock now read 11:28. Before, today it hadn't moved a second, but now a whole full three hours had passed.

"But…" Sarah Jane muttered. "What?"

"Time is…running out." The Doctor said simply.

"Running out?" Sarah Jane repeated. "Don't be silly."

"Oh? Silly I may be, but wrong I am not." The Doctor said, wearily. "The fact the clock never changed – it never bothered you? Or the fact that history is a jumbled broken mess? Look!"

He waved around at the exhibits. "Third Crusade. Hundreds of years ago and yet just happened yesterday. A dead bird, extinct for millions of years and yet newly discovered alive. It's impossible. Broken."

"What are you saying?" Sarah Jane asked. The Doctor sighed.

"I'm saying that this world, this timeline; it's a lie. And you're the crux, the epicentre. It's here because of you."

Sarah Jane simply gaped at him. So basically, her entire life was the result of a broken timeline. She didn't believe him. "Listen here. I don't know who you are, or what you want, but this is _not _funny. And since this interview is obviously a dud, there's really no point in continuing this conversation." And with that said, she turned on her heel and marched out.

"Sarah-"

"And my name is Sarah Jane. Not Sarah."

* * *

LONDON, 12: 13 pm

Sarah Jane panted as she all-but-sprinted up her drive. After leaving the museum, she had bolted to her car, and driven home with all haste. She had made to cancel all her jobs and interviews for the day. She had had to deal with less than sane people before, before something about that man – Doctor, whatever – had shaken her to the core. He spoke with such simple truth, such belief in what he said that Sarah Jane couldn't help but begin to believe him. And that nearly broke her heart.

Believing him meant that this world was a lie. That her life was a lie. Her husband. Her son. Everything she had ever known, and probably would know, wasn't real. She refused to believe that. She would forget all about that strange man, and get on with her life. Yes, yes she would.

She reached into her bag and retrieved her keys. She inserted the appropriate one into the lock of her front door – her hands shook ever so slightly – and turned it to unlock the door with a click. She pushed open the door, stepped in and then closed it behind her. Luke would be at school and Peter would be at his law firm. So she would be all alone. Good. She could pour herself a good strong cup of tea and sort out her thoughts.

The postman had been round already, and there was a small pile of mail lying on the doormat. Absentmindedly, she scooped them up and scanned through them as she made her way through to the kitchen. Bill. Bill. Mortgage repayment. A letter from Peter's sister in the Bahamas. There was also a deep red envelope, devoid of stamps or even an address. In fact it was completely devoid of any features. It must have been delivered personally.

She entered the kitchen, and dumped her bag and all but the red letter on the table top. She flicked on the kettle and then took a seat as it boiled. Carefully, she began to tear open the envelope. Inside was a single sheet of creamy paper. Completely unblemished, it simply read a single word.

_Sky._

Sarah Jane turned the letter over in her hands. Nope. Nothing else. Just that one little word. Sky. What about it? There was obviously something to it. She supposed it could've been a name as well. But still, a name that meant nothing to her.

Had that Doctor posted this? Another part of this strange plan to convince her that her world was broken? It made a sense of sorts, she supposed.

The kettle whistled and hissed steam. Good. Time for a good old cuppa. She put down the letter and stood. She pulled out a mug, tea bag and milk. She stuck the teabag in the mug and poured the hot water in and waited a minute. Then she added a lash of milk. Lovely. As soon as she took the first gulp she instantly began to feel better.

Oh, what to do, what to do. She actually felt better now. Maybe she shouldn't have been so hasty in cancelling the rest of her day's work. Now that she had steadied her nerves, she might've actually managed her other interviews. Oh well. She guessed she had earned a day off.

Sarah Jane's eyes settled on the clock above the fridge. 12:20. Time was moving forward. _Running out._ Why though? That's what she didn't understand. Vaguely, she once remembered how she had interviewed someone proclaiming the end of the world. Now that it was of course. That was just ridiculous. The Doctor was a loon, simple as.

_Knock-knock. _Someone was at the door. With a long-suffering sigh – she had rather been hoping for a lazy day – she put down the half-drunk tea and made her way through the hall. She reached the door, and opened it. And there stood the Doctor, hands clasped behind his back and a cheerful grin on his face.

"Hello Sarah…" Her eyes narrowed. "Jane." He finished.

"How did you find me?" She demanded.

The Doctor gave a booming laugh. "I can travel all of time and space. A simple house call is hardly beyond me."

"Time and space?"

"Indeed."

Sarah Jane frowned. "How?"

The Doctor smirked. "With a time machine of course!"

"I hope it's not a DeLorean." Sarah Jane rolled her eyes. Why was she even talking about this?

"Nope." The Doctor said. "Far better. Would you like to see?"

* * *

LONDON, 06: 42 pm

"Why do you use two screwdrivers?" Rani asked in amusement, as she watched Mark work. "Do you use the big one while you're feeling inadequate or something?"

Mark scowled. "No. Just helps to have a spare."

"Uh huh." Rani teased. Mark didn't bother to dignify her jibes with a response, and simply continued to fiddle with the mirror array. He was trying to see if there was any way to use the chronon energy to bounce it back at the _texar exjim _and dislodge it, theoretically freeing Sarah Jane from the artificial timeline. Or so he said. He wasn't having much luck.

For all her attempts to lighten the mood, she was very much afraid. They were looking at the end of the world as they knew it. And while that wasn't such an alien concept to the pair of them, it was a first that they had been so powerless about it. For all the things she had seen, all the things she had done, there had never been a moment where she had thought '_there's nothing we can do.'_

Except this time, it seemed, there really wasn't.

"Mark." She asked quietly. "What are we meant to do?"

"Uhh…pray? No." Mark said. "Trust."

Rani raised her eyebrows. "Trust what?"

"Trust Sarah Jane."

* * *

LONDON, 13: 32 pm

"How…"

"How is it bigger on the inside, you mean?" The Doctor finished, smiling. "Well, the actual process is called "transcendental dimensionalism. It's basically a separate dimension."

Sarah Jane nodded absentmindedly. They were in the Doctor's time machine. Or, as he called it, the TARDIS. Time And Relative Dimension In Space. And it was bigger on the inside. And it was a time machine. And, perhaps strangest of all, the exterior of the impossible machine was a carbon copy of a typical 1960's police phone box, down to the shade of blue.

The inside was rather dark. Lots of grey metal and cool, clear glass. The control room – she assumed – was a large dome. In the centre, raised slightly from the rest of the floor was the control console – she assumed. It was very high tech she supposed, in a retro sort of way. Lots of big colourful buttons and levers, surrounding a central column containing a tubular structure.

"So, what do you think?" The Doctor asked cheerfully. She got the impression that he rather liked showing off this feat of alien technology. Not that he had said he was an alien. But what else could he be?

"Why a phone box?" Sarah Jane asked curiously.

The Doctor's face fell slightly. He had been hoping for something a little more indulgent, rather than journalistic questions. "The chameleon circuit broke a whiles back. Never got round to fixing it."

"I see." Sarah Jane said simply.

The Doctor huffed. "Usually, people are a bit more impressed. Nay, amazed."

Sarah Jane shrugged. For some reason it felt familiar to her. Even though she was pretty sure she had never seen anything like this before. The Doctor sighed again. She decided to press for her answers now.

"So, going to tell me why you've singled me out?"

The Doctor popped a sherbet lemon into his mouth, obviously playing for time. Sarah Jane simply looked at him with a give-me-answers-or-else look. The Doctor deflated. "I need your help."

"Couldn't you have simply asked?" She pointed out.

"No. You need to understand, before you can commit." The Doctor said wearily.

"Commit to what?"

"This course of action." The Doctor muttered quietly. "What I said about the timeline, it's all true. You can't escape it."

Her eyes narrowed. "So I'm just supposed to accept that this life – my life – is a lie?"

"Not a lie, no." the Doctor corrected. "Rather, the product of a timeline artificially created."

"That means you are too." Sarah Jane pointed out. The Doctor nodded sadly.

"A fact I've accepted."

"But…why? I mean, this isn't hurting everyone."

The Doctor shook his head. "This timeline's existence means the end of another's as well as this one. We can cancel this one out though, and save the true one."

"But why? What makes that one so much better?" Sarah Jane pleaded. She could tell that the end of this timeline would mean the end of her. And Luke, and Peter and everyone she had come to know and love.

"Because it's true. In that timeline, you are so much more than you are now. So much greater." The Doctor cried.

"Am I happy?" She asked quietly. The Doctor shifted uneasily. "Well?"

"I don't know." The Doctor admitted honestly. "But I do know, that your decision here today will decide on the fate of two universes. So." The Doctor eyed her intently. "Are you going to come with me to save the world, or leave to see it end?"

* * *

Save the world. See it end.

So sayeth the words of the madman with the impossible time machine. What was she to do? She had a family, a loving husband and son. She had a job. A home. A car. And the Doctor said none of it was real. That one single creature that couldn't possibly exist had created it and everything about it. That meant Luke and Peter and everyone she had ever known were a lie. And yet…there was a sombre ring of truth to his words.

Who was she in this other world? For all she knew she could be a cruel old woman, or a homeless widow. Or she could be brilliant, a swan amongst ducks and a sun amongst stars.

What was she?

Who was she?

What should she do?

* * *

LONDON, 19:02 pm

Rani looked out the window. Dark grey clouds had swarmed in overhead. It was a storm. Heavy rain had begun to pour down from the heavens onto the ground below and brilliant blue lightning arced across the sky, heralded by booming thunder. _End of the world, and we've got a front row seat._

Strangely, a calm serenity had befallen her. She wasn't scared, like she thought she had been earlier – powerless, yes, but not scared. The fact that she would never see her parents, or Clyde, or Luke had scarcely entered her mind. She felt at peace. Of course, Mark didn't seem too keen on going gently into the night. He acted coolly and methodically; he had reconfigured the time mirror system a dozen times, trying to find some way – some brilliant, impossible way – to dislodge the time-snake and save the world. And probably act more than a little smug.

"Give up." Rani told him. "It's never gonna work."

"Bah, pessimist." Mark grumbled. "The Wright brothers said I couldn't make a working aircraft, and I showed them wrong. The Chess-Lord of Bavarc Two said I couldn't beat him at his game, and I did. Don't tell me I can't do something. It hasn't happened."

"Sure of yourself, aren't you?"

"I've survived the end of the universe. I refuse to be done in by some stupid little snake!"

Rani laughed. "Rage, rage against the dying of the night."

"Elliot! Lovely chap. Really should've gotten him some nicotine patches." Mark muttered absentmindedly. He yelped and drew his arm back as a shock from the device coursed through him. "Son of a…"

Rani laughed again as Mark sucked on the thumb that the electricity had gone through. Everything was funny to her. "Want me to kiss it better?"

Mark cocked an eyebrow at her. "What the hell's wrong with you? It's only the end of the world. No need to get loopy."

"Nothing is wrong with me." Rani insisted. "Just remembering the good old days. Want to hear a story?"

"No. But I assume you're going to tell me anyway."

Rani ignored the rebuke. "Once, these two races that were at war came to Earth with a weapon."

"Uh huh."

Rani scowled. "They were called the Fleshkind and the Metalkind. And the Fleshkind had a weapon to wipe out the Metalkind." Rani blinked suddenly, as if a thought had suddenly slipped away from her. Mark noticed the subtle shift and examined her curiously.

"Rani?"

"Oh, I'm fine. Where was I? Right and the weapon was called the…Sapient Kinetic Incidentor, or SKI."

Mark cocked an eyebrow and muttered under his breath. "There's no such thing."

"And we stopped it, the end." Rani said cheerfully. Mark frowned, and then glanced at the machine. He instantly saw what had happened. The blasted thing was venting gas into the room. Rani was off her head on the stuff. The wonders of a respiratory-bypass system, he supposed.

"Illzulium gas." He chuckled to himself, as he set about plugging the leak. "Not the best for a human. Mildly hallucinogenic."

A minute or so later, he had taped over the leak with gaffer tape and plonked himself down with hands clasped patiently, waiting for the gas to leave her system. She had gotten a good dose of it. She was grinning madly, laughing at something he couldn't see. And she was talking about someone called Eve. Not that he knew who that was. Eventually, her eyes managed to focus and the smile slowly slid off her face. She would be fine, save a mild headache. And he supposed the embarrassment he could inflict on her by asking who "Timmy-Two-Minutes" was.

* * *

LONDON, 19:02 pm

"Righto!" The Doctor cried out, running around the console little a little schoolboy with too much sugar in him. "1974. The year you met me. Same day, in fact."

"Right." Sarah Jane nodded. The Doctor had explained it all to her. They were going back in time to the point of divergence. Or so he said. The reason behind all this, he claimed, was a creature called a _texar exjim. _It certainly didn't come from Earth. And it basically caused a disturbance in the timeline and bound them together, which created some sort of temporal explosion. Whatever that meant. So here they were, in the past were the creature struck and stop it.

"How do we stop it?"

The Doctor rubbed his hands together in a business-like manner. "You touch yourself."

"_What?"_

He blinked, then blushed a shade of red to match his hair once he realised what he had said. "Not like that! Basically there's the version of you from this time period, where the time-snake is going to cause the change. But if you touch that version of you, this Blinovitch Limitation Effect kicks in; the time-snake gets dislodged and the timeline snaps back together."

"Right…" She had no idea what a Blinovitch Limitation Effect was, but she decided to roll with it. The day could hardly get any weirder.

The Doctor placed a hand on her shoulder and marched her towards the door. "Now, your alternate self is going to be heading for the boss' office to see if there's any stories for her to follow. Just walk up to her and touch her, and that's it."

"Is this safe?"

"Not particularly."

Sarah Jane sighed. The Doctor beamed as he opened the doors, and with a final word of "good luck!" he pushed her out of the TARDIS and closed the doors behind him. How rude.

"Typical man." Sarah Jane huffed. "Give the woman the real work."

Like the Doctor had said, this was the office for the first paper she had ever worked for. It was a moderately-sized place, she could remember. There were lots of filing cabinets and blocky computers. It was made of endless beige walls, and rather monotonous save for the occasional potted plant or tasteless picture. The occasional person milled about; one was getting a drink from the water cooler, another – really bad perm- was carrying a pile of paper in her arms.

Now. Where would she be? The other Sarah Jane. The Doctor had said that she was heading for an office to find a story to follow up on. Fair enough. She would just have to find said office and park up and wait.

She briskly walked forward. She would ask the lady with the papers which way. She could simply say that she was the alternate Sarah Jane's mother or something. She would be around 23, so it was largely believable. Gently she reached out and tapped the woman on the shoulder - she had her back to Sarah Jane – and made her jump, sending the papers flying.

They didn't come back down. They hung in the air; frozen. The woman had frozen too. Completely immobile. Sarah Jane was baffled. It was like time itself had ground to a halt save for her. She was about to wave in front of the woman's face when a sinister, rasping voice rang out.

"Sarah Jane Smith."

She spun around, and found herself looking at what could only be described as a monster, or a demon or some other such term for a dark being. It was taller than any human; and it wore a long black cloak, worn over its head as a hood. She could still see what passed for its face though: it had no nose, there were simply pits were the eyes should have been and thin lips were stretched over a mouth full of sharp fangs.

"What are you?" Sarah Jane asked. She was afraid, but her voice remained steady.

The monster chuckled. "I am a monument to your destruction. I am the embodiment of chaos and anarchy and discord. I am entropy made flesh." He paused. "I am the Trickster."

She understood. "That time-snake thing, It's your servant, isn't it?"

The Trickster laughed. "A pawn in the greater scheme of things, but yes. It is mine. And I cannot allow you to prevent its goal, no matter how you came to be here."

She frowned. She had guessed he was clairvoyant or something. "You mean you don't know?"

"It is of no consequence." The thing said dismissively. "You shall die regardless."

The Trickster raised its hand with deadly intent; the index finger was a sliver claw. Electrical arcs began to twist and turn around it, building up in preparation for a killer blast. Then, a wheezing, groan began to permeate the air in rhythm. The TARDIS was materialising around the Trickster. It faded in and out a dozen times before manifesting fully. The Doctor's voice echoed out from within the time machine: "_Hurry Sarah! I can only keep him here for so long!"_

She didn't need to be told twice. She ran down the corridor, hoping luck would happen upon her and she would find herself. That sounded so weird in her head. She ran down three different corridors; everyone she saw was similarly frozen.

She turned left, up a flight of stairs. She came out on the second floor. And there she was.

A younger Sarah Jane stood motionless in the hall, frozen mid-stride. Her hair was shorter than it was now, more business-like. The clothes were practical, and moderately formal. She looked good when she was younger. She could've been a waxwork.

Slowly, Sarah Jane approached. The alternate, younger one was motionless, staring ahead intently. She had a place to be with a purpose. The older one walked around her in a circle, fascinated, stopping when they were face to face. After all, how often does one encounter this situation? She remembered what she had to do.

Slowly, hands trembling, she reached out. She poked a single finger at her forehead.

Then there was light.

* * *

LONDON, 19: 13 pm

Rani watched as the time-snake shuddered; a shrieking noise filled the air and the snake uncoiled from around Sarah Jane's neck. Sparks flew from pretty much everything electrical with the exception of Mr Smith. Rani couldn't help but cheer and call out Sarah Jane's name. Slowly, she stirred and sat up rubbing her temple. She looked around the room.

"What've you done to my attic?"

An hour or so later, the two and Mark – who had be made to clear up his "junk" – were discussing the events that had transpired. The _texar exjim_, had died after leaving Sarah Jane; the body had simply turned to dust when they tried to move it.

"So what can you remember then?" Mark asked curiously.

"Not a lot." Sarah Jane admitted. "Feels a lot like a dream."

"You mentioned the Doctor had been there." Rani pointed out.

Mark had the answer for that. "The timeline was based on Sarah Jane. Since the Doctor was such a big part of her life, a version of him manifested. Simple enough."

"You'd think the Trickster would've considered that."

"Maybe he didn't know how the time-snake worked." Rani suggested.

"Maybe." Sarah Jane agreed. She sighed. "There's just something though. Something that keeps bugging me. A word."

"What word?" Mark asked.

"Sky." Sarah Jane told him. "For some reason, that word is just stuck in my head. There was a letter in the other timeline with just that one word on it. What does it mean?"

Mark shrugged. "Haven't the foggiest."

"Whatever it is." Sarah Jane said. "I'm sure it will reveal itself in time."

Then she stood up. "Now, you two go. Rani's parents will be worried and I don't know about you, but being in a dream world isn't quite as refreshing as good old-fashioned beauty sleep."

* * *

_**A/N: **__Good? Bad? Too time-wimey or not enough? I don't think there was enough turmoil in Sarah Jane but oh well. There's always rewrites._

_Read and review. Peace out._


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